Next of Kin
by fricaiwyrda
Summary: Sequel to A Tangled Green. Still trying to come to terms with what has happened, Daniel Jackson and the team get more than they bargained for when they invite some ambassadors to the SGC.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: For those of you that don't know, this is the sequel to A Tangled Green. Reading that first will help loads, but if you don't feel like it, you _might_ get by…or not. Anyway, here it is! Thanks to those of you who supported my idea to make this, and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Enjoy your reading and please review!

**Next of Kin**

Dr. Daniel Jackson sat at a cluttered desk in his lab, various artifacts and papers needing translation scattered across its surface. But the only object that had his attention was a plain black notebook, the one he carried with him on offworld missions for notes. It was flipped open to a page with a hastily scrawled gate address on it, a few smudges of blood on the edges. Frowning, he just sat there, staring blankly at the paper.

Finally making a decision, he picked up the phone on his desk and quickly dialed a familiar number. It rang for a while, each ring making him consider hanging the phone up and not talking to the person on the other line.

* * *

_Terrified, she ran as fast as she could, winding past trees and jumping over bushes. She could smell the smoke in the air, hear the crackling and feel the heat on her back. She had to get away from it, she had to run faster!_

_But the faster she ran, the closer the heat came, the noise filling her ears. Coming to a stop, she saw a dreaded sight in front of her. Somehow it had wrapped around and surrounded her. The darkness of the forest was banished by the bright flickering light it cast. She couldn't get away, there was nowhere left to run._

_Slumping to the ground in defeat, she began to weep. The rustling and crackling became louder, until it was all a roar. The heat was almost unbearable. It was becoming very hard to breath and she began coughing through her tears. _

_Suddenly, something cool brushed one shoulder, then the other, and began softly wrapping around her arms. It was a relief from the heat, and the soft caresses calmed her. She leaned back into it, felt it enwrap her in its safe embrace. Tendrils smoothed her hair, the touch fluttery light on her face. Her face went slack as the rest of her body as she relaxed into its care._

_The cool feeling wrapped all around her, closer and closer. It became uncomfortably tight, and she shifted, trying to push it away. But already it had completely enveloped her, pinning her arms and legs where they were. Panicking, she began to struggle in earnest. She saw a flash of green come around her face and before she could do anything it was in her mouth, reaching down her throat. She began to gag, but more followed, almost unending flow of green, sharp edges cutting her cheeks and mouth. _

_She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, but she still tried to scream, struggling frantically. The roaring had come back, louder than before, and her skin felt like it was on fire._

* * *

Jerking up, she gasped for breath, totally disoriented. Even though it was hot in her room, her skin was covered in a cold sweat, her heart pounding in her chest. Trying to calm herself down, she looked around her dark room, attempting to slow her breathing. It was only a dream, just a dream. But what had woken her?

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

The phone! Flinging back her covers, she scrambled out of bed and crossed the dark room to the phone, picking up the handheld receiver and walking back as she pressed talk. "Hello?" She said, trying not to let her voice waver.

"Lizzie? You okay?" A male voice asked from the other line with concern. Looks like she didn't cover it up enough.

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine, Daniel. Just a bad dream." She unconsciously shook her head, resettling herself on the edge of her bed.

A pause. "Yeah, I know what those are like." He said nostalgically. "But you're sure you're okay?" The concern was back in his voice.

"I'm sure, Daniel. It's just the same dream as always. Now I know you didn't call me just to save me from my perilous dream. I'm not the damsel in distress type, you know." Lizzie said lightly, trying to change the subject. It only partly succeeded.

A hearty laugh came from the other line. "No, I can't really picture you as one. I didn't know you had recurring nightmares. Why didn't you say something?" Daniel asked.

"Last time I checked, Daniel, you're a doctor of archaeology, not psychology. What could you have done?" She criticized. "And really, I've had the dreams for as long as I can remember, they're no big deal."

"So that's why you sounded like you'd just run a marathon being chased by a bear when you picked up the phone?" Daniel said sarcastically.

Lizzie couldn't help but chuckle. "Whatever. Now tell me, why _did_ you call?" She lay back on her bed, legs still hanging off the edge, one hand pillowed behind her head.

"Oh…yeah. It's just something that's been frustrating me. I thought I'd get some advice." She could hear the consternation in his voice.

"So now _I'm_ the one with the Ph.D. in psychology, am I?" She heard him snort from the other end. "Okay, shoot." She could picture his infectious grin spreading across his face.

"Well, it's…" He paused, seeming unsure of what to say next. "It's about a diplomatic situation I'm trying to negotiate. You see, there is this group of people that would really be a great ally. We spoke with an emissary before, and even though we had a few…cultural differences, we seemed to be making progress. Then a third party came in and gave us information saying that these people we wanted to become allies with weren't who they said they were. That they had some…less than friendly motives. But before I could find out from the emissary whether or not the accusations were true, she…left." He sighed. "Now I'm trying to decide whether or not to believe her, or to believe the third party." He went silent.

Lizzie frowned. "Okay, are you talking in code? Cause that made no sense whatsoever." An idea came to her. "You _are_ talking in code! It's a woman, isn't it? You found some woman you like, but someone else told you she was cheating on you?" She asked eagerly.

Daniel laughed nervously from the other end. "No, no it's not a woman…well, she was a woman, but we're not…I mean, we weren't…Oh, I don't know why I called you." He sighed humorously. "You're as bad as Jack. And that's not a compliment." He added.

She glanced over at the clock, releasing a sigh of her own. "Well you can't blame me. Have you _looked_ at a clock lately? You better not be at work right now!" Lizzie scolded.

"I was going to be going home soon!" He said defensively. "I just wanted to call you first." A pause. "Oh, wow…it's 3:28 a.m.! I didn't even realize!" She heard rustling of papers. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I didn't mean to wake you up so late! I honestly didn't even realize how late it was."

Hearing how flustered Daniel was, Lizzie relented. "Oh, it's all right, Daniel. You needed to talk to someone, and I needed someone to wake me up. It worked out perfectly! But you better go home now, before it's time for you to be back, already!" She smiled to herself.

"Okay, I'm getting ready to head out now. Bye—wait! You can't sneak by _that_ easy!" Daniel admonished.

Lizzie smiled. "Damn! You got me! It almost worked, too!" They both laughed. "Okay, you want to know what I think about your _non_-relationship problem?" She emphasized the non. "I say, don't take the word of some third party whose interests may or may not be the same as yours. Trust yourself, Daniel. If you think they were telling the truth, then they were. Depend on your own information." She paused. "But if I hear of World War III breaking out, it wasn't my fault!" She added jokingly.

Daniel laughed. "Okay, will do. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you go back to sleep now, and no more nightmares!"

"Only if you promise to actually _go_ to sleep when you get home." Lizzie haggled.

"Deal."

"Deal. G'night!" Lizzie said.

"Good morning!" Daniel replied before hanging up.

Flopping back on the bed after sitting up to throw the handheld across the room, Lizzie laughed to herself one more time before trying to settle back to sleep. In a few minutes she was sleeping soundly, without nightmares for the rest of the night.

* * *

Daniel shook his head as he put the receiver back down and grabbed his pile of translations he was taking home with him. Walking to the door, he flipped off the light to the room and was about to head toward the elevator when he remembered his promise. Sighing, he flicked the switch back on and crossed to the desk, depositing all his papers in a messy pile for when he came back. Satisfied, he left, turning the light off and locking the door with his keycard on the way out.

As he rode the elevator to the surface, Daniel pondered the advice Lizzie had given him, realizing she hadn't said anything he wasn't already thinking. That was the nice thing about Lizzie, she was always on the exact same page with him. Even if she _didn't_ know all the details. Or even half of them. She always knew the exact right thing to say to make him feel better.

Talking, or rather, thinking about feeling better, Lizzie's comment about her dream worried him. She didn't seem like the type to have recurring nightmares. She was the most happy-go-lucky, contented person he knew. And to think that she had been having what must have been quite the terrifying dream for as long as she could remember? Next time he saw her, he'd make sure to bring it up, that way she couldn't dodge out of it.

Reaching his car, he drove home silently, still pondering about Lizzie and the advice she gave him. Keeping his promise, he went straight to bed after getting home. Even if he would only be getting a few hours of sleep, every moment counted.

* * *

A/N: So…how was that first chapter? I know, I know…very mysterious, and not at all like the previous story. But don't worry, it picks up! And all…many…some…a few…of your questions will be answered! But please, tell me what you think, I love the feedback! Hope you'll be looking forward to the next chapter, I know I am! F.Y.I. If I don't mention it later, this takes place several weeks after the story in A Tangled Green, or at least, this chapter does. Hmmm…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all your support of this sequel, again, and I hope you enjoy the rollercoaster to come. Enjoy Chapter 2 and please, don't forget to review!

**Chapter 2**

Rolling out of bed, semiconscious, the next morning (or rather, several hours later), Daniel's first priority was to drink an infusion of caffeine (otherwise known as coffee) so he could then be awake enough to take care of the rest of the morning's duties. After brewing and drinking a fresh cup of coffee, taking a shower and dressing, he was ready to return to the SGC.

Upon arriving at the base, he was less than pleased to see the unnaturally chipper and most definitely awake Colonel Jack O'Neill waiting for him outside his lab. Unlocking the door, he motioned Jack in and followed behind him. Setting his second cup of coffee on the corner of his extremely messy desk, he collapsed into his chair, swiveling to face Jack.

"What magic potion do you drink that makes you so…awake?" Daniel asked, hopelessly. Jack grinned wolfishly back.

"Well it's not coffee, that's for sure." He glanced around the room, looking for a nice place to sit down. Not finding one, he began to realize that the only clear horizontal surface in Daniel's lab was the one place already occupied. "Now, I know you've got some eclectic order in all this chaos, but this is just ridiculous, Daniel!"

Daniel cocked his head. "Eclectic?"

"Yeah!" Jack said proudly. "I've been reading one of those Word Power books, you think it helps?"

"Sure..." Daniel frowned. "Anyway, why were you waiting outside my lab? Did you want something?"

O'Neill became all serious as he nodded, wiping the grin off his face. "What did you decide?" Daniel immediately knew what he was talking about.

"Well, I…" He sighed. "I need a little more time, Jack. I spoke to Lizzie last night and she told me to go with my feelings, but I don't know what I feel, Jack!" The frustration was plain on his face.

"You told Lizzie?" Jack blurted out.

"Nothing classified, Jack. I'm not an idiot." Daniel said defensively. "I just needed someone to talk to, and she always seems to have such good advice." He shrugged.

"That's what she gets for being like a mini Gandhi or something." Jack shook his head. "Sometimes it's like the Matrix talking to her."

Daniel couldn't help but smirk. Then he remembered the other part of their conversation last night. The grin slid off his face.

"Daniel?" Jack could tell something was wrong.

Shaking his head, Daniel looked up at Jack, who was gazing down at him with a concerned look. "She said something that worried me last night. When I called I ended up waking her, but she sounded really shaken when she answered the phone." Daniel absently rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. "She told me I'd woken her up from a nightmare she'd been having, that it was no big deal."

Jack frowned. "Daniel, you of all people should know that nightmares aren't that uncommon. I _know_ you get nightmares all the time and you turn out all right." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "And besides, with her life, what kind of nightmares would she be getting? Losing control of her temper and stomping on a bunch of ants? C'mon, Daniel!"

Daniel smiled at the image. "I don't know, she sounded really scared. Plus when I asked her about it, she said it was a recurring nightmare that she'd been having for as long as she could remember."

"That is kinda odd, especially for Lizzie. What do you want to do about it?" Jack cut to the point.

Sighing, Daniel downed the rest of his coffee and stood up, stretching. "Right now, nothing. We've got a trip to take." As he walked past Jack towards the door, Jack frowned before turning to follow him.

"About that, we really need to have a talk about what went on back there in that temple, Daniel. I mean, I understand revenge but—"

"Not right now, Jack!" Daniel called from further up the corridor as he made his way to the locker rooms to prepare for the trip through the gate.

* * *

Waking up out of a deep, calming sleep, Lizzie looked at the clock. 7:30 a.m. Sliding out from under the covers, she pattered barefoot to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. Savoring it, she slowly emptied the glass. Setting the glass back on the counter, she trudged back to her room.

It took her ten minutes to find where she had flung the phone the night before and, once found, she walked with it out the sliding glass door onto the patio she had off her bedroom. Settling down in a comfortable chair in the morning sun, she dialed a long distance number.

"Hello?" A female voice responded after the third ring.

"Mum…it's me." Lizzie said.

"Oh, Lysandrea!" Lizzie heard a shuffling and then a muffled call. "Darling, it's Lysandrea!"

"Please, mum. Don't call me that." Lizzie sighed.

"But it's your name, child." Her mother replied.

"Gimme the phone, woman!" A man's voice jokingly scolded. Various noises ensued as the phone changed hands. "Lizzie, how are you?" Her father's deep voice came across.

"Fine, dad. I was just calling to…" Lizzie sighed. "Actually, I'm not fine. I had that dream again." Silence from the other line, then her mother's muffled voice.

"What is it? What did she say?"

"The one about the…" he hesitated, "fire?"

"Yeah, that one. But it was different this time." She frowned as she thought back. "I think he was trying to help me get through it, but it got twisted. He…" she trailed away, completely choked up.

"Lizzie?" Her father asked after a few moments of silence. "It's okay, you know it wasn't real. It didn't happen that way." He paused. "He would never do that to you."

Letting out a shuddering sigh, Lizzie nodded, then spoke. "I know. It's just…"

"Why don't you just take care of the greenhouse and then get some rest. Nothing can happen to you while you're in your dreams, Lizzie. I promise." He held a muttered conversation with her mother. "We'll call again later this evening and see how you're doing, all right?"

"All right. Thanks dad…tell mum thanks, too." Lizzie said.

"Will do; now go take care of those plants." Her father commanded, then hung up the line.

Getting up, Lizzie returned the phone to its _proper_ place in the holder on the desk and changed to go out and take care of the plants in the greenhouse. An hour later, she returned to her room and laid down on top of the covers of her bed to rest. Minutes later, she was asleep.

* * *

Stepping through the gate, SG-1 found themselves on a familiar planet. Small mounds expelling volcanic gas littered the sandy ground. Beyond lay a beach and a large body of water. They carefully made their way toward the beach.

"So how do we expect him to even know we're here?" Major Samantha Carter mused, glancing over at Daniel. He just shrugged.

"Don't look at me! But I'm guessing that he has some way of determining when there's someone nearby, or he wouldn't have shown up the first time." Daniel squinted out at the water.

"And wouldn't that have been a nice chain of events." Jack cut in, somewhat disgruntled. As Daniel opened his mouth to retaliate, Jack held up his finger. "Ah! And don't even try to convince me again that he was a _nice_ fish-man. He made us think you were _dead_, Daniel. There's nothing nice about that."

The team continued the rest of the way to the water in silence. Stopping in front of the lapping waves, the group stared out at the water, waiting for something to happen. Finally, Daniel spoke up.

"Nem! Nem, its Daniel! We need to speak to—" Suddenly, bubbling water came close to the shore, and the Oannes man rose up out of the water to greet them. "You." Daniel finished up lamely.

"You have…returned." The man said in his distinctive lilt.

"Yes, yes, we've returned because we have some good news to tell you." Daniel answered, stepping closer. Nem tilted his head, so Daniel continued. "On our travels to other worlds, we encountered a goa'uld named Belenus. He had changed his name since the time of Babylon, but your mate would have known him as Belus."

Nem's brow furrowed, and he hissed. "The one who…murdered…my love?" He asked.

"Yes," Daniel nodded. "The one who killed Omoroca is dead…by my hand." He glanced down at his hands, as if expecting them to be stained red. The Oannes man tilted his head back and keened, causing the other members of SG-1 to take a step back. "No, no, it's okay." Daniel reassured them. "He's just…grieving."

After a moment, Nem stopped. Bringing his head back down, he looked directly at Daniel. "And what of…your…love? What…fate…Shau're?"

Taken aback by the question, Daniel just stood there. Jack and Sam stepped close to him, showing their support. Unsure whether it would be accepted, Teal'c stayed where he was. After a moment, Daniel cleared his throat to speak. But nothing came out. He could only look at Nem's face as his sight slowly became distorted by unshed tears.

Reaching out, Nem rested his webbed hand on Daniel's shoulder, and looked into his eyes. "I am…sorry." Daniel could only nod in response. "She has…been…avenged?" Nem asked.

Frowning and wiping his eyes, Daniel looked down at the sand. Finally he spoke. "The goa'uld who stole her away from me is dead, but the man who killed her did it only out of love." He turned his gaze back toward Teal'c. He received an emotional nod in return. "Her soul is free."

"As is…Omoroca." Nem turned away and began walking back toward the water. Just before he dove under the surface, he looked back at Daniel. "Thank…you." He said, then disappeared in a flurry of bubbles.

The team just stood there awkwardly as Daniel sniffed and brushed the last tears off his face. Jack broke the silence. "Okay, campers! Let's head back to the SGC! We've got a party to get to at my house." Clapping a hand on Daniel's back, he ushered the man back toward the Stargate, the others following.

"Party?" Daniel had turned his head to look up at Jack as they reached the DHD.

"We all could use some cheering up, and you said you wanted to do something about Lizzie. Let's invite her!" Jack said happily, before shoving his friend through the event horizon that had just appeared after Carter dialed the coordinates. Then he strolled through himself.

* * *

Once again, Daniel was sitting in his office dialing Lizzie's number. This time, though, Jack, Teal'c and Sam were scattered around the lab as well. The phone rang and rang, Daniel shook his head. "She should really get an answering machine if she's not going to pick up the phone."

"Hello?" A slightly groggy voice said.

Daniel frowned up at his friends, then replied. "Lizzie, why are you still sleeping? It's almost three in the afternoon!"

"I haven't been sleeping the whole time, Daniel. I got up this morning and took care of the greenhouse, but then I decided I hadn't had enough sleep…Thanks to a particular doctor of archaeology!" She emphasized. "What is it now, more thoroughly confusing questions to plague me with?"

Daniel laughed, eliciting a questioning look from Sam and Jack. He just made a shooing gesture. "Not this time, unless you think asking you to come to a get-together at Jack's house is confusing."

"Jack's house?" She did seem kind of confused. "Sorry, Daniel. I'd love to come but I'm not feeling top of the weather right now, and I have to keep an eye on the greenhouse."

"You're not going to be gone for days, Lizzie, just an evening. I'm sure your exotic plants can handle a few hours without being spritzed with water." Daniel responded sarcastically.

"Honestly, Daniel, I'd really rather stay here at home. You just go enjoy yourself!" Her cheery tone sounded strained.

Before Daniel could rebuff that remark, Jack reached over and snatched at the phone. "Gimme that!" He said, succeeding in freeing it from Daniel's grasp. "Lizzie?" He practically shouted into the receiver.

"Jack?" She asked back. It was just as he had feared. Jack had heard that tone of voice many times from Daniel when something was bothering him so much he really shouldn't be left alone. It was settled.

"If you're not coming to my party, then I'm going to have to bring the party to you. We'll be at your house at seven. Be ready." He went to hand the phone back to Daniel, pulling it back at the last moment, causing Daniel to snatch at air. "Oh and don't worry about food, we'll bring enough for all of us." Holding it out for Daniel yet again, Daniel was taking no chances. He violently reached out and nabbed it from Jack's fingers, depositing it on its cradle.

"Be ready?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"What?" Jack threw up his hands, as everyone, including Teal'c, laughed.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the wait between chapters on this one, work was keeping me busy. It looks like these chapters are flowing a lot slower that the previous story did, so the posts may be further apart. Hope you enjoyed this, and nana lee, hope this satisfied your wish for Nem to know. And by the way, I had that planned even before you commented, you must be psychic! Until next time, and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Huge apologies for such a long wait! Due to the complexity of the storyline, I had to make some major revisions just to straighten things out. Hopefully things go much smoother from here on out. Anyway, thanks to all of you who are reading this, thanks for your patience, and don't forget to review!

**Chapter 3**

The doorbell rang at exactly 7 o'clock, and Lizzie hurried to the door to answer it. Standing on the doorstep was Daniel, carrying a paper grocery bag, Sam, with a plastic container of food, Teal'c, holding a sizeable stack of DVDs, and bringing up the rear was Jack, sporting a wicked grin and a six-pack of beer. Smiling, Lizzie motioned them all in.

"Please, come on in!" Turning to Daniel as he walked past, she rested her hand on his arm. She felt him stiffen as he looked over at her. Frowning for a moment, Lizzie found her train of thought and spoke. "You can set the food in the kitchen, if you like. It's that way." She pointed down the hallway to the left, where it split to open onto the kitchen and living room. Nodding, Daniel just continued walking over there. Sam gave an apologetic smile to Lizzie as she followed him into the kitchen.

"You can just get settled in the living room, it's the right hand doorway." Lizzie told Jack and Teal'c, pointing down the hallway to the left again. They both nodded and walked down the hallway. Left standing at the door, Lizzie closed the front door and went to follow them into the living room. Suddenly, the phone rang. Jumping a bit, Lizzie turned around and picked up the receiver on the table in the hallway.

"Hello?" She said.

"Lysandrea, darling! You sound much better than before." Her mother's voice came across the line.

"Mum! I thought I told—" she glanced up to see Daniel poking his head around the doorway to the kitchen, curiosity on his face. She lowered her voice. "I thought I told you not to call me that. It's Lizzie, okay?"

"Well fine!" Her mother said in a huff. "If you want to ruin the wonderful name we chose for you then so be it! Here I was just checking to see how you were doing…"

Lizzie sighed. "Is dad there? Maybe I should talk to him." She heard rustling noises and then her father's voice came on.

"Hey, Lizzie. Your mother says you sound better." He said optimistically.

"Well yeah, I slept most of the day away, I should hope so!" She said with a laugh. "I didn't have the dream again, which is good." Lizzie said on a more serious note.

* * *

In the kitchen, Daniel continued to eavesdrop on Lizzie's conversation. He turned to Sam, who was giving him a disapproving look, and whispered to her. "She's talking about that dream again. They seem to all be used to the idea of her recurring dreams, which is kind of odd."

"More odd than the fact that you find it perfectly normal to eavesdrop on friends?" Sam countered, evidently disappointed. Taken by surprise, Daniel just shrugged and started unpacking the grocery bag he had set on the counter. Sam eventually just left to join Teal'c and Jack in the living room.

As he pulled the last item out of the bag, he caught a strange phrase from Lizzie's conversation. "Yes, the plants are doing fine…I think they're almost ready for residency, I'll have to check for a host nearby." It wasn't _what_ was being said that was strange; it was _how_ it was being said. Why those choice of words? Perhaps they were just trade terms, he didn't know much about exotic plant nurseries.

Before he could think about it more, Lizzie said a quick goodbye and hung up the phone. She came in to the kitchen and he just had enough time to look like he hadn't been listening in. Smiling as she came in, Daniel said, "So, parents checking up on you?"

Lizzie laughed embarrassedly. "You heard that? Yeah, I spoke to them earlier today and they said they would call back later to see how I was. I had almost forgotten." Changing tack, she gestured toward the living room. "Shall we?"

Daniel nodded, willing to drop the subject, and walked with her into the living room for a nice night of movies and talk among friends.

* * *

"So I guess you all will be going home now?" Lizzie asked, a little bit of disappointment in her voice.

Jack spoke up. "Actually, that would be a bad idea." Receiving curious looks from the others, he continued. "I hate to admit it, but we've had just a bit more alcohol than is preferred for driving. We're gonna have to stay here." He gave a somewhat apologetic smile. "You mind?"

"I have, in fact, not consumed any alcoholic beverages, O'Neill." Teal'c clarified.

"Right, you can drive home if you want, but with all our cars here already, we can't really all pile in to your car." He shrugged. "We'd have no way of getting to work in the morning."

Speechless throughout this whole exchange, Lizzie finally managed to speak. "Well…I suppose you can stay with me if you like. Mind you, you'll have to fight over the sleeping arrangements. I've got one guest bedroom, the couch and armchair, the master bedroom…and the floor I suppose." She pointed out each as she went along.

SG-1 looked at each other for a while. "I do not require much sleep, I will take the armchair." Teal'c broke the silence. The others nodded.

"I'll take the floor, spent enough times sleeping on the ground during…missions it won't make much of a difference." He looked at Daniel. "Daniel, you take the couch and we'll leave the guest bedroom for Carter." Daniel shrugged agreeably.

"Sir, I don't really need—" Carter protested.

"Carter! No arguments, that's an order if it has to be. You get the guest bed." Jack held up his hand to stall any other protests.

"Well! That's settled then. Bathroom's down the hall. Sam, I'll show you the guest room." Lizzie waved with her hand and led Sam to the bedroom next to the master bedroom. Opening the door, she made a broad sweeping gesture. "Hope you like it; I'll see you in the morning I guess."

"Thanks, Lizzie. For the party and letting us stay." Sam said as Lizzie walked out of the room. Lizzie stopped and turned to look at her.

"It wasn't just for me, was it?" She asked.

Sam shook her head. "No, we figured Daniel shouldn't be left alone right now either. So it was a bit of double duty." She smiled.

"I thought there was something wrong…Is he okay?" Lizzie asked, concerned.

"Oh…yeah. This is Daniel we're talking about here, a few drudged up memories couldn't keep him down." Sam got a reminiscing look on her face. "Anyway, time to go to sleep. Lots of things to do in the morning."

"Really? Like what?" Lizzie asked, intrigued.

Sam laughed. "Not going to catch me that easily, Lizzie. Sorry, its classified information, you know that."

Lizzie shrugged and stepped out of the room closing the door behind her. "Worth a try!" She called through the door as she retired to her own room.

* * *

Daniel woke out of a restless sleep, trying to banish the images of the burning girl and his brutal slaughter of the goa'uld out of his head. Slowly sitting up and stepping over Jack, who was sleeping on the floor, Daniel walked quietly over to the master bedroom and knocked on the door. He figured if he was having nightmares, she probably was too, and they could use each others company. There wasn't any answer. Frowning he tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. Turning it slowly, he opened the door and stepped in.

He stepped into what could only be described as an alcove, perhaps a foyer even, but smaller. Turning to the left, the rest of the room went out and back beyond the wall of the door, it probably ran along the wall to the guest room across the hall. Stepping into the main part of the room, Daniel spied the double bed on the far end of the room, and a pair of glass doors beyond it. One of them was ajar.

Approaching the doors, he saw that they led out onto a patio, equipped with chairs, table and umbrella. Barefoot, he stepped out onto the patio, pulling the glass door partially closed behind him. Over to his left was a large glass building, the greenhouse. Walking across the lawn, he noticed that this door was also slightly ajar, confirming his suspicions. When he got to the door, he reached out to open it, but stopped when he heard a voice inside. Leaning in closer, he listened.

"I know you were trying to help, and I'm grateful, but why did it get twisted?" Lizzie's voice whispered from inside the greenhouse. "It brought back such…horrible memories." He heard a rustling. "Yes, you're right. That's not the only thing on my mind. It's Daniel. I'm worried about him. He looked at me like I was a total stranger when I touched his arm this evening, like his mind was somewhere else entirely." She laughed. "Come to think of it, I do know that particular feeling rather well. I—" Lizzie broke off as Daniel leaned closer and accidentally made one of the glass panes he was bracing himself with creak.

Figuring he'd been found out and not wanting to make Lizzie worry, Daniel just opened the door and stepped into the greenhouse. The entire place was filled with viny growth, obstructing almost all view of the outside through the panes. Like ivy on an old building, the plants had grown up the walls, were hanging down by the lamps from the ceiling. Lizzie sat in the center aisle, wedged in among all the vines. She glanced over at him, and for a second, Daniel thought he saw the vines in the room sway and rustle. Must have been the draft from him opening the door.

"What are you doing out here?" Lizzie asked, nervously. She wiped her hands against her eyes, drying off tears he didn't know she had been shedding.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came to your room to see if you were awake, but you weren't there. I saw the door was open, so I came outside and then noticed the door of the greenhouse was open too. I figured you must be in here, checking up on your plants, so I came to see you." He shrugged, trying to make her relax. "I didn't mean to scare you."

A quick smile flit across Lizzie's face in the dark. "No, its okay. You didn't scare me." She got to her feet, brushing off the back of her sleep pants. "Why don't we go sit on the patio?" She pointed out the door, and Daniel nodded, backing out so she could follow him. When she had gotten outside, she pulled a key on a cord out from under her shirt and locked the greenhouse door, before replacing the key.

Settling down in two of the patio chairs, Daniel and Lizzie looked at each other in the moonlight for a while, not saying anything. Finally, Daniel broke the silence. "Couldn't sleep either?" Lizzie smiled and shook her head. "Not another nightmare, was it?" He asked, concerned.

"No, no nightmare tonight, for a change." Lizzie sighed in relief. "I think that party really did me some good. It's not often I have friends over to my house."

Daniel grinned in reply. "By the way, nice greenhouse. Did they finally get it to the right specifications?" He leaned over on his chair to face her.

Lizzie chuckled. "Yes, after quite a few construction teams, I finally got someone to actually follow the blueprints and build it the way I wanted."

"The plants seem to be growing strong." Daniel commented.

"Yeah, I'm really proud with how well they're doing, especially since they were transported from the west coast. It was a bit touch and go at first, but now they're growing well." Lizzie grinned as she copied Daniel's posture.

Shaking his head, Daniel looked up at the moon, then back down at Lizzie. "I remember the first day we met. What was it, three months ago? Four?"

Lizzie smiled at him reproachfully. "Five months, Daniel. It's been five months. You passed by on that horrible day." They both laughed. "The day I was _trying_ to get my greenhouse built."

"Yep, I remember." Daniel nodded.

* * *

A/N: Wow, sure took me a long time to write that one. Mostly because it's really just a setup chapter, so I was trying to figure out a way to not make it seem just like a setup chapter. But I guess now that I've told you, that kind of defeats the purpose…Oh well. Anyway, hope you liked it, and hope you're looking forward to the next chapter. Oooh, the building of a greenhouse…riveting! Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story, and thanks to all those that have reviewed. I love feedback! For all those who have been wondering who Lizzie is and how Daniel and the others know her, your wait is over…partially. Here you go, a flashback!

**Chapter 4**

Five Months Earlier

Daniel was driving home from a pretty routine day at the SGC. He could even go so far as to say a good day, since he was heading home and it was only four in the afternoon. About five minutes from his house, he drove past one of the rich-end neighborhood homes that had been for sale for quite a while. The sign was gone and a truck labeled Jenkins Construction was parked out front. He could just see that there was work being done behind the house, metal struts sticking up into the air.

Realizing he had slowed to a stop in the middle of the road, Daniel turned away from the house and put his foot on the gas. Just as he did, he heard a loud noise coming from the house. Not construction noise, it sounded like someone's voice. Despite the cold outside, he rolled down his window to hear better, pulling his car over to park by the truck so as not to obstruct traffic again. Leaning over, he looked out the window down the side of the house to the back, where the construction was being done.

"No, no, no! This is all wrong!" A young woman stood in front of what must have been the overseer, waving several sheets of blueprints from her clutched hands. She was dressed strangely for the weather, short-sleeved shirt, loose pants, and no shoes. That was the odd part, no shoes. She was wearing a long scarf wrapped around her neck once, and her wavy hair was down, which was something. Come to think of it, she looked like some hippy or bohemian or something. "Why can't you just read the blueprint and build it, **the way it's written**!" The woman was ranting at the man, who just stood there, hands on hips, sneering down at her. She threw up her hands, then shoved the blueprints into the man's chest and stormed off toward the front of the house…right towards Daniel!

Trying to decide whether he should speed off before she noticed he had been watching, or come out and ask what was wrong, Daniel wasted the few moments he had for decision making. Upon reaching the front of the house, the young woman saw his car parked next to the construction truck, noticing the rolled down window. She approached the car.

"Excuse me?" She said, leaning down to look through the passenger window. Now that she wasn't yelling, Daniel noticed she had a British accent. "Hello? If you were looking to buy the house, it's already been sold…to me. So if that's all, would you mind driving off?" She said, still a little tetchy from her argument with the overseer.

Speechless for a moment, Daniel just stared at the woman, who stared back. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Uh, sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything. I was just driving by and I heard shouting, so I stopped to see if everything was okay." Rubbing the back of his neck, Daniel gave her a sheepish grin. "But now that I know everything's fine, I'll just drive off, like you said." He turned back toward the front of the car, and began rolling the window up.

"Wait! I'm sorry; I'm just a bit upset right now. Please," She put her hand on the top of the window, making Daniel stop. "I'm Lizzie Hayle." She reached her hand into the car to shake his. "Pleased to meet you." She smiled encouragingly.

Daniel took her hand and shook. "Daniel Jackson." She nodded in reply and brought her arm back out of the car.

"Do you live around here?" She asked. "I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but it would be nice to know someone." She quickly added.

"Oh, no, no. It's fine." Daniel waved his hands in a calming gesture. "Yes, I do live around here. I'm about five minutes," He pointed down the road he'd been driving. "That way."

"Oh, a real neighborhood person!" Lizzie said with a smile. "Would you like to be the first to welcome me to the neighborhood?" She pointed behind her towards the front door without turning around. "I actually have most of my unpacking done, if you'd like a drink or something." Seeing Daniel's mildly panicked look, she stepped back, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry! You don't have to come in if you don't want. You must have somewhere…or someone…to go to, I won't keep you." She turned around and hurried to the front door.

"Wait!" What was he getting himself into… "It's okay, I'm in no hurry." Daniel stepped out of the car, locking it, and walked around toward the walk leading up to the front door.

Lizzie Hayle had opened the door and was just stepping through, but she stopped when he called her, turning around. "If you really don't mind…" She said, a questioning look on her face. Daniel shook his head with a smile. "Well, then…come on in!" She stepped through the door, holding it open for Daniel. He came in after her and stepped into a hallway. She closed the door behind them. "Welcome to my new home!" She said to him, spreading her arms.

"And…welcome to the neighborhood!" Daniel said, copying her sweeping gesture. They both laughed. He looked left and right, following the hallway down both directions. Noticing his looks, Lizzie stepped around him away from the door.

"Would you like a tour?" She asked, pointing to the left and right. Daniel nodded good-naturedly. "Which way first?" She asked.

"Uh, well if it's the grand tour…" Daniel said, walking toward a door across from the front door. "What's in here?"

"Oh, that! Well you're right, if it's the grand tour, we should start here." Lizzie smiled and walked over, opening the door. "It's only a closet, so things will get immensely better from here!" She said with a chuckle as Daniel stared embarrassedly into a closet full of brooms, mops, coats, cleaning supplies, the whole works.

"Heh, okay well lets see if this is better." Daniel said, moving down the hallway to the right and grabbing the handle of a door next to the closet. "Do you mind?" He asked. Lizzie shook her head. Opening the door, he looked into an L-shaped room with a sink and a toilet, barely being able to see the bathtub beyond the curve of the L.

Lizzie smiled at him as they both spoke simultaneously. "A bathroom." She laughed. "I told you it would get better as we went along." She motioned further down the hallway to the right. "Let's keep going." Moving to the next door at the end of the corridor, she opened it. "This is the guest bedroom; it's where I'm keeping most of my unpacked boxes right now, though."

Daniel glanced in to see a medium sized room with a bed prominently in the center, piled with boxes and boxes, filling the room. "Bit of a pack-rat?" He asked.

"I only just moved in, give me time to settle!" Lizzie said with mock indignity. Turning around to face the front of the house, she walked up to another door parallel to the guest bedroom. She opened the door and let Daniel walk in with her. "This is the master bedroom." Stepping out of the small alcove made by the shape of the room and moving into the major area, Lizzie gestured one-handed. "Nice place, bit large for one person, but I'll manage."

Looking past her, Daniel noticed a set of glass doors on the back end of the room. "Where do those go?" He asked. "If you don't mind my asking." He added.

"Oh, not at all." Lizzie moved over, past the bed and opened the glass doors. "This is the back patio." They both stepped out onto the stone-paved patio. "And over there, if they _ever_ get finished, will be my greenhouse." She pointed to the left, where a rudimentary shape of a rectangular building could be seen marked out by metal struts.

"Greenhouse?" Daniel asked, intrigued.

"Yes, I run an exotic plants nursery. The plants are going to be shipped over in two weeks, so this greenhouse had better be ready in time." She shivered and rubbed her arms. "They'd never survive if they got here before the greenhouse was up."

"Cold?" Daniel asked with concern and a touch of humor. Lizzie turned to him with a bit of surprise.

"I'm not used to it being this cold." She said. She rubbed her arms again.

Daniel took off his coat and held it out to her. She shook her head and started walking back inside. "Not used to the cold? Where are you from?" Daniel asked as he followed her back in.

"California." Lizzie said, turning her head to him as they both came back into the master bedroom.

Daniel was surprised. "California…but I thought." He paused, Lizzie looking at him with a smug smile. "You mean you've just moved from California." He said, the truth dawning on him.

"Yes, I've lived there for several years." She smiled. "But I was originally from Wales, my parents still live there." Lifting up her arms in an exaggerated shrug, she said. "Hence, the accent."

"Ahh, I think I get it now." He walked back over to the door onto the hallway. "Shall we continue?" He asked, pointing out the door.

"Yes, let's." Lizzie said, moving around him and leading past the front door and over to the left side of the house. Reaching the end, they were both staring at a strange looking doorway. Instead of your usual end to a hallway, this end had a wall in the middle of it, so that standing there you could see into the two rooms that the wall separated at the left end of the house. "This on the right is the living room." Lizzie let Daniel pop his head in to take a look. "And here on the left is the kitchen." She walked in and Daniel followed.

"Odd setup over here." Daniel commented, referring to the strange split doorway.

"Yes, I still have no idea why it was set up this way, but I like it." She walked into the center of the kitchen and turned around to face Daniel. "Come here." She said, waving him over. He approached and turned around to face the direction she was facing. And saw a doorway next to the strange one into the hallway on the right-hand side. "This," Lizzie said, walking through the doorway. "Is the dining room. Sort of hidden, isn't it?" She asked with a smile.

"That's for sure." Daniel said, taking a look at the small dining room.

"And that's it!" Lizzie said with a flourish. "What do you think?" She looked over at him eagerly.

"This is an awfully large, and well, expensive house for someone like you, isn't it?" Daniel asked, only realizing how rude it was after the words had left his mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's all right. Perfectly understandable, really." She pulled out a chair at the table and sat down, motioning for Daniel to sit across from her. "My family has been in the exotic plant raising business for quite a while, and we have some pretty exclusive customers. So, of course, that pays pretty well. And also, I'm a private yoga/meditation instructor." She smiled modestly over at Daniel.

"Really?" He asked with surprise. "That's interesting. I have a friend that is really into meditation, I've tried it myself a few times."

"Good for you! Maybe your friend would like to stop by one of my sessions sometime. But not yet, I don't have them scheduled out. Just got here and all!" Lizzie said with a laugh.

"Not sure…" Daniel said reluctantly. "But I'd be glad to tell him about it." He checked his watch, it was almost six. "But I should really get going, nice to meet you!" He got up, and started walking toward the front door. Lizzie followed.

"Nice to meet you too, Daniel Jackson. Hope to see you around." She smiled as she opened the door to let him out. She waved as he walked down the sidewalk to his car. He turned around right before getting to his car.

"Oh, and good luck with the greenhouse! Hope it gets done in time!" He called over to Lizzie, before crossing in front of the car and getting in.

"Thank you, and so do I!" Lizzie called back as Daniel drove off down the street, heading home at last.

* * *

A/N: I know, pretty mundane chapter, but I had a pretty vivid picture of what her house looked like, and what better way to share it with you than have her give him a house tour. A few questions answered, a few new questions to ask, I hope. Next chapter may or may not continue the flashback, still not sure. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, I'm happy you're enjoying the story. Now we're going to head back to the present and continue the storyline (for a little while). I think I've decided to alternate present and flashback, but don't call me on that. Never fear though, they will all be labeled, so as not to confuse (too much). Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!

**Chapter 5**

Daniel rushed in to Jack's office, not even taking time to knock. He immediately started talking. "I've thought about it, over and over again, and I think I've come to a decision. We should contact the Union. Even if we can't trust them completely, it wouldn't be right to go against that poor girl's dying wish. We have to tell them what happened. She might have family, people who are worried about her and waiting for her to come home, so could the others. I just…I think we should go." Taking a deep breath, he let it out with a sigh. Only then did he look around at his surroundings.

Amid the cluttered mess of the desk, well pretty much everywhere (Jack was such a hypocrite, telling him _he_ was a messy pack rat), Daniel saw nothing out of the ordinary. Well, except for the fact that there wasn't anyone in the room, other than himself. Looking left and right, stepping further into the room, Daniel realized that there really wasn't anyone in the room at all. Leave it to Jack to leave his office door open when he wasn't there.

"Looking for someone?" An amused voice came from behind Daniel. Whipping around, he glared at the man standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Yes, actually, I was. For you." Daniel crossed his arms.

"Well then good for you, you've found me." Jack said sarcastically. "Don't tell me, let me guess. You came storming in here spewing some huge and wonderful discovery or revelation and didn't realize I wasn't here till you'd finished talking." Jack grinned. "How long did it take? Five minutes, ten?"

Daniel was practically simmering. "Two, if you must know." He sighed. "And now I have to start all over again." He opened his mouth and took a breath.

Jack held out his hand to stop Daniel. "Knowing you, two minutes could be a pretty long speech. So can I just get the bulleted notes?"

Frowning, Daniel started again. "Fine, I think we should go."

Jack just stood there, waiting for more. "Okay, I didn't ask for a haiku poem or something, but…what?" He ran his hands through his hair. "Little bit more information please?"

"Well if you'd been in your office to hear me the first time, you would know what I was talking about!" Jack waved his hand for Daniel to continue. "I think we should go to the planet of the Union." Daniel finished, letting out his breath.

Jack nodded in understanding, then just looked at Daniel, trying to assess his feelings at the moment. "You sure about this?" He finally asked.

Daniel thought about it for a bit. "I think we owe her, owe Neolaía that much." He finally said.

"You mean that lying little—" Jack started to fume.

"Jack. She's dead now, give her some respect." Daniel admonished. "We don't know that she lied to us at all! She was just someone from a culture different from our own, she was indoctrinated into thinking what she was doing was right just like the Jaffa are."

Jack threw up his hands. "All right, fine! You've made your case. I'll bring it up to Hammond; see if we can get a trip cleared today. We've got no other missions going on, just some paperwork to finish up…By the way, have you finished your report yet?" Jack asked.

"Of course, Jack. I finished it last night before we left for the party. Why, you're not done?" Daniel asked, a slight smirk on his face. Jack just glared at him.

"Okay then, I'm heading to the general's office, why don't you go hang out in your own?" Jack smiled. "Not that I don't mind finding strange men in my office, but I'm sure yours is more comfortable."

Daniel shook his head and smiled, walking out of the office as Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder and closed the door. They both walked together down the hallway for a while, before parting ways to head to their prospective destinations.

* * *

"SG-1, you have a go!" General Hammond called through the intercom to the team waiting in the gateroom. "Godspeed." He added, as usual. Jack touched his ball-cap before starting up the ramp, followed by the rest of the team.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye, the four team members were stepping out of the gate into alien terrain. Well, not too alien. Sort of like a mix between Sherwood Forest and an Amazon rain forest. Temperatures were comfortable, not too hot, not too cold, just like Goldilocks would have wanted it. Sunlight shone through the canopy in shafts, illuminating the ground below. Hanging from almost all the trees were masses of vines, coming up from the ground, winding up the trunk and out the branches to catch the sunlight at the top. There didn't seem to be any animal life, but the flora had definitely gone to town on this planet.

"Well, here we are…welcome to the Plant Planet." Jack said, taking his cap off and resituating it on his head. He stepped away from the Stargate and began exploring the vicinity.

"Jack, don't you think that's kind of rude?" Daniel asked, following him. "I mean, we are here to set up diplomatic relations. Starting off on the wrong foot and all…" Daniel trailed off.

"Ahhh. It's not like anyone's here. No one heard it but us," Jack turned to grin back at Daniel. "And you're not gonna tell, are you?" He noticed Sam's concerned look from back by the gate, and the somewhat tense stance Teal'c had assumed. "Carter?"

Without saying a word, Sam pointed behind Jack, causing him to slowly turn around to see what had gotten everyone so worked up. Three people stood before him, staring at him impassively. There were two men and one woman, one man standing in front, and the other man and the woman stationed behind him. They seemed to be assessing the team. Finally, the leader spoke. "You are not of us." He stated simply.

"You guys wouldn't be related to the Aschen by any chance, would you?" Jack said, partially sarcastic. The three just stared back, heads slightly cocked. "Eh, never mind." He reached his hand back and snagged Daniels jacket, pulling him forward. "Your turn, Daniel."

A little flustered by his less than gentle summons, Daniel straightened his jacket and cleared his throat. "Hello, my name is Daniel Jackson." He reached out his hand, holding it there for a moment, then pulled it back awkwardly when he realized that the other man was not going to shake it. "We are peaceful explorers from the planet Earth, we've come to share knowledge and technology." He finished up, looking at the three eagerly.

The leader frowned, the first emotion SG-1 had seen from him. "You are from Earth?" The others behind him exchanged a concerned look.

Sam and Teal'c had joined Daniel and Jack, and Teal'c took the opportunity to make a comment. "It seems these people know of Earth." Daniel suddenly looked at Teal'c, a glint in his eye.

"That's it! Of course they know, it only makes sense! Neolaía told us that her people had sent an expedition to Earth a long time ago, and that only some of them returned. All they would say was that the Earth wasn't ready." He turned back to the three people. "Yes, yes we are from Earth. Your people visited our planet thousands of years ago."

The man in front nodded. "How came you to be here?" he asked.

Remembering their mission, Daniel spoke. "We came with a message, a message one of your people gave us for you." Seeing the man's expectant look, he continued. "A woman named Neolaía gave us this planet's address. She told us to come here and tell you what had happened to her and the rest of her expedition."

"Neolaía…we do not recognize this name. She must not have been one of us. We do not have names." The leader spoke matter-of-factly.

Surprised, Jack spoke up. "No names? Then how do you know who's who?" He looked the man up and down. "No offense or anything, but you all look pretty much the same."

"We are all Union. Names are not required." The man responded as to a child.

Daniel shook his head rapidly. "Okay, okay, then if you don't know her name, she was the woman you sent to…" He turned to the other team members. "Oh god, he's not going to know the way we designate planets!" He looked up in to the air, thinking, then squatted down to draw in the dirt. "Here, this is the address to the planet you sent her." He drew the six symbols that designated the planet, leaving out the planet of origin.

The man stepped forward to get a better look at the symbols. Recognition dawned. "Yes, we remember the team we sent to that planet. What is their report?" The man asked, not seeming to notice the grim looks on Daniel and the others' faces.

"I'm sorry, they were all killed. The two men were killed by staff weapon blasts and Neolaía—the woman was burned to death." His voice caught at the end.

"The team has been eliminated?" The man asked, only curiosity in his voice.

Sam stepped in, seeing that Daniel was not fit to answer. "Yes, they encountered a race called the goa'uld. They believed them to be allies, but the goa'uld ruling that planet had his Jaffa, his soldiers, kill them for blasphemy. These goa'uld are a parasitic race that take over the bodies of humans and pose as gods."

This time the man truly frowned. "Kin? Why would kin treat us this way?" He and the other two exchanged confused glances.

"Kin…that's what Neolaía called them, too." Daniel mused. "She thought they were kin." He locked eyes with the leader. "What does that mean, why do you assume they are kin?"

"You said yourself that these 'goa'uld' are creatures who live inside, commune with, the body of a human. How are we different?" The man asked.

Jack turned to Daniel. "You know, I've been asking myself the same question. Look, he admitted it. Belenus was right, Daniel. These guys are just like the goa'uld, so let's just get out of here!"

Daniel made a shushing gesture with his hands. "No, we just don't understand. _They_ don't understand." He turned back to the man. "The goa'uld _are_ different from you, or at least I think they are. You mentioned communing with your host…well with the goa'uld, there's no communion, only suppression."

The man shook his head. "You misunderstand. We do not commune with our host, we are our host. We speak of communion as the sharing of all things: body, thoughts, actions, energy. We are one being, the plural." He turned away, continuing as he moved off from the Stargate. "You also spoke of sharing; we wish to hear of this. Follow us to the city of Union." His attendants, for that was all they seemed to be, went with him.

After looking at each other for a bit, Daniel and the others started off after the retreating group. As they passed under the trees, a continuous rustling was heard, and a strange pressure felt in the head. Daniel put his hand up, wincing at the intensity. Jack seemed to feel something, but the others were oblivious. Finally, they stepped out of the forest, and saw an amazing sight.

In a great clearing, surrounded on three sides by forest, lay a city seemingly made from living trees. Tall spires poked up, specked with platforms covered in winding plants. Down toward the ground were mud huts, where children peeped out every once in a while to watch the approach. Some sat directly on the ground, while others were raised on poles, accessibly by rope ladders. All the people wore the same style of clothing that Neolaía and her escorts had worn, the only difference being that the children seemed to have multicolored hair, while the adults all had white hair.

"This is amazing!" Daniel gasped, craning his neck to see up to the tops of the spires. The trees seemed to grow higher than he thought possible, and the contrast between the tree spires and mud huts was extreme. He heard whispers from the children as they came closer.

"What are they saying, Daniel?" Sam asked, as she smiled down at the curious and yet slightly fearful children.

"It's…uh…it's Greek, like what Neolaía spoke in her dreams. They're saying…" He paused to listen closely and pick out their mutterings. "They're saying 'They have come out of the Forest of Union. The Forest is forbidden until it is time'. Wait, I remember that line." Daniel thought for a moment, then bounced a bit in excitement. "Aha! It was one of the things she said in her dreams. They must be talking about where we just came from." He pointed behind him without turning around.

"Hence, 'they have come'…Nice deduction there, Daniel." Jack said with a pointed look at the still star-struck Daniel. Daniel glanced back at him absently, then returned his gaze to the city.

"The Stargate is therefore located within this Forest of Union that seems to be a religious symbol for them." Teal'c said, somewhat distastefully.

"Looks like it." Daniel responded. They had stopped directly below one of the spires. The three who had led them motioned toward the stairs they could now see grew out of the exterior of the trunk. They were large, bulbous nubs, possibly cut branches, that wrapped around the trunk in a spiral all the way to the top. Unfortunately, there was no type of railing or any restraining measure to keep people from falling off. With a gulp, Jack started up, seeing that Daniel was not budging an inch.

"C'mon, Daniel. Piece of cake." He motioned for Daniel to follow. With a bit of pushing and prodding by Sam and Teal'c, Daniel started up the stairs as well. Teal'c followed behind him, and Sam behind Teal'c. The three messengers followed last.

The going seemed fine, and eventually Daniel got over his fear and started to appreciate the view he was receiving. From this height, he could see that the side of the clearing not surrounded by forest was a large swatch of open land that led down to a body of water beyond. It tapered off to a beach before hitting the water. As he gazed at the sparkling water, a strong gust of wind blew. Before he knew it, he had been off-balanced and slipped off the steps.

In the moment he felt only air around his body, he pondered what it would feel like to fall all those many feet to the ground. Then he felt fear. And suddenly, something jerked on his waist, stopping his descent abruptly. That was going to leave a bruise. Coming to his senses, Daniel looked up and saw the worried faces of the rest of SG-1. Beside them stood the woman attendant, her arm stretched out, as if reaching out for him to grab her hand. But instead of a hand, a thick swarm of green had engulfed her hand and extended beyond her body as a tightly woven rope of some sort. It stretched down to him, and as he glanced down carefully at his waist, trying to ignore the ground far below, he realized that the vine rope had wrapped itself around him, stopping his fall.

Just as that fact registered, he felt a tug, and then he slowly began to ascend toward the stairs. When he reached the steps, O'Neill and Teal'c grabbed him and pulled him on, steadying him. Once he was firmly on solid 'ground', he felt a tickling at his waist and looked down to see the vines unwrap and rapidly recede. Turning he followed their split-second path as they disappeared into the woman's arm. Swallowing, he opened his mouth to speak. "Thank you." He said as sincerely as he could.

The woman nodded. "We only seek to ensure the safety of our guests." She responded, never meeting his eyes.

"If you really wanted safety, you could have added railings." Jack muttered angrily.

"Jack, don't you see?" Daniel grabbed ahold of Jack as he turned to face him. "They wouldn't have thought to put railings in, because they can always wrap their vines around the step itself if they do end up slipping." He shrugged, trying to put the experience behind him. "We just aren't that lucky, I guess."

"Whatever, it's unsafe." Was all Jack would say as they made their way up the rest of the stairs and into the chamber at the top. There, they met other Union, as they called themselves, and began the long road to diplomatic relations.

* * *

Lizzie stepped out of the building, her mat rolled up and slung over her back, waving at the other people as they went their separate ways. "See you next time! Don't forget to practice!" She called out, exchanging glances with a few of the students about the second comment.

Most made their way to cars and hopped in, driving off rapidly to return to the world of TV and fast food. Lizzie, on the other hand, preferred to live her philosophy, and began to walk several miles home. As she left the city limits and started into the suburbs, she heard a buzzing from in her purse. Sticking her hand in, she searched around a bit before pulling out a cellphone. Flipping it open, she put it to her ear.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hey Lizzie! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" A man's overly happy voice spoke. "I wasn't sure when your yoga class ended, so I just guessed."

"Well, good job, Daniel!" Lizzie said with a laugh. "You guessed right. I'm just on my way home now. What's up?"

"Great news, Lizzie! Really great news!" Daniel sounded very excited. "You remember that problem I spoke to you about?" He asked.

"Yes…" Lizzie responded, not sure where this was going.

"Well I decided to go with my instincts and I was right! We started negotiations and everything is going well." Daniel gushed.

"That's great, Daniel! I'm glad my advice was helpful. So, no World War III, huh?" She said jokingly.

Daniel laughed. "No, at least not yet. They've even decided to send some representatives to the base, I'm going to be their liaison!"

"Awww…now that's not fair. You'd let people you're not ever sure you trust onto your super high security base, but not me?" She sighed dramatically. "If I'd known that was how to get there, I would have been more mysterious and secretive!" Lizzie pouted.

"You're already secretive enough, Lizzie. Any more and you'd be an enigma!" Daniel laughed. "But really, about having you do yoga/meditation sessions on base, I'm still working it out. Checking to see if you can get security clearance and everything. You'd probably be written up as part of the medical team, right in there with the psychologists and physical therapists. Just have patience." Daniel placated.

"Oh, all right. I suppose I can wait a little longer. And by the way, I resent being thrown 'right in there with the psychologists and physical therapists'. Not so much the physical therapists, they're great, but psychologists? That's an insult!" Lizzie said, with mock indignation.

"Hehe, I know what you mean." Daniel said reminiscently. "Anyway, I'll let you go, talk to you later!" Daniel finished up.

"Okay, bye! I expect excitingly ambiguous updates on those ambassadors, you hear me?" Lizzie added.

"Yeah, I hear you. I'll see what I can do. Bye!" He hung up.

Lizzie stuck her phone back in her purse and sighed, tilting her head up to let the sun's rays soak into her skin. Life was good.

* * *

A/N: Okay, major apologies for the late post here, but I ended up stuck in a rut and couldn't seem to get the words on the paper/computer screen. But as you can see, it's a bit longer to placate you. I hope you enjoyed it; it's a bit more upbeat and faster paced than some previous chapters. Look forward to hearing from you all!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, again, a bit of a wait for the chapter, we just got a new HDTV and are redoing the living room with floor to ceiling bookcases, old bookcases are going in my room, so quite the overhaul. Full days of housework and no time for writing, but I'm slipping it in. Hope you enjoyed last chapter, this chapter is back to the flashbacks…think montage, only slower. Okay, on with the show.

**Chapter 6**

Four months earlier

Having almost forgotten his meeting with Lizzie Hayle, it surprised Daniel to find her bustling past his house one morning as he headed off to work. Pulling her along was an average sized dog, maybe on the small side, but definitely with the energy to make up for it. Lizzie glanced over and noticed Daniel standing in his front door, looking at her. She waved with a smile and slowed down. As Daniel came up the sidewalk to her, he was happy to see that this time she did have shoes on, albeit sandals. The rest of her was still as out of place for the weather as before. She had thought to wear a scarf though.

"Hi! Been a while, hasn't it?" Lizzie asked conversationally, as she held back the pacing dog.

"Uh, yeah, it has." Daniel said, still not exactly awake yet, or at least not fully alert. "…Lizzie, right?" He asked, just to be sure.

"Yup, that's me!" She leaned down to pat the dog's head. "And this is Milo."

Daniel leaned down and pet Milo's head. "Hello, Milo!" Glancing up at Lizzie, he smiled. "Well behaved dog you've got here." He commented.

"Well that's a first!" She said with a laugh. "I guess he likes you, normally he'd be jumping all over you and snapping and barking." Seeing Daniel's concerned look and the step back he took, Lizzie quickly spoke to reassure him. "Oh, no…no…not to hurt, mind you. Only in play. He really gets excited around people…and bicycles…and cars…and squirrels, rabbits, cats, dogs…well pretty much everything makes him excited." Lizzie laughed again and rubbed Milo's back.

"Oh…I see." Daniel said absently. Looking down at the dog's happy face, he chuckled. "Well, at least now you won't be so lonely in such a big house." After a moment, he thought of something. "Oh! Did everything, you know, did you settle in okay?" He finally managed to spit out.

"Yes, everything is going fine; I even rented a studio in town for my classes. I had my first one a week or so ago, not much of a turnout, but I'm sure it will improve with time." She laughed to herself. "It is sort of strange having classes like this, I've only ever done private lessons before, but the change is good." She reassured.

"That's good. I know what its like to move into a new place, it's hard to get used to at first. It's good to have something to do to help." Daniel said.

"Oh, before I let you go off to work," Milo tugged at his leash. "and I head back off on my walk, I wanted to give you something. She rifled through her satchel purse, pulling out a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Scribbling something on it quickly, she handed the paper to Daniel. "Here, it's the address to the studio, and the times for the sessions. Feel free to stop by any time, and don't forget to bring that friend of yours who likes meditation!" Lizzie chided, as she finally succumb to the insistent tugging of her dog, and began setting off down the road.

Daniel looked at the sheet of paper, her handwriting was very neat for being scribbled down so quickly, and glanced back up at her receding figure. "I'll be sure to stop by!" He called after her with a smile. Then he walked to his car to head off to the SGC.

* * *

Three months

Driving into the city with Teal'c next to him in the car, Daniel listened to Jack and Sam squabble about some scientific research she'd been doing and had really wanted to _keep_ doing. Just as he tuned in, he heard:

"Don't blame me, Carter. I am definitely not the one responsible for dragging you away from your 'research' to go have some _fun_." Jack grinned at Daniel through the rear view mirror. "That would be all Daniel's fault!"

"Oh now, come on Jack. It wasn't entirely my fault." Daniel shot a smirk over at Teal'c. "Teal'c has been waiting for this for weeks, and he wouldn't settle for any less than the whole team going."

Teal'c sent a stony glare at Daniel, only ruined by the twitch of his lip as one side curved up into a smile. "Daniel Jackson is incorrect. The fault does not lie wholly with me. I believe it was our friend Lizzie Hayle who requested that all of us attend this meditation session."

"C'mon guys, that's not fair!" Sam complained, looking around at all the grinning faces. Turning her gaze to Jack she glared at him. "Sir, you specifically said, no _ordered_, that I had to come on this outing as a real world training exercise." Daniel and Jack began to chuckle. "Now I suppose my first clue should have been that we were heading in to the city in plainclothes, but I thought maybe it was an undercover exercise. But a meditation session?!" She huffed. "I left my research for this?"

"Sam, it'll be fun! Lizzie's been hounding me to get you all to come for a while now. She's gotten used to seeing me and Teal'c, and really wanted to meet the two people we always talk about in person." Daniel tried to placate the irate scientist.

"Carter. Just think of it as…battle readiness training." Jack came up with. He smiled broadly in triumph. "Meditation keeps the mind and body calm, so you can act quicker and more efficiently when the occasion calls for it. Isn't that right, Teal'c?" He shot at the Jaffa.

"Colonel O'Neill is correct, Major Carter. Meditation is not much different from Kel'no'reem, and I find that it enables me to be very alert and ready. It would do you well to learn this technique." Jack reached forward and patted Teal'c's arm.

"Good job, Teal'c!" Jack said heartily.

"But—" Sam began to protest.

"Ah! Too late now, I'm afraid." Daniel cut in, as he pulled into the parking lot. "Here it is, Hayle's Profound Unity Meditation Center." Daniel laughed at Sam's look in the rear view mirror. "Quite the mouthful isn't it? It's some eastern thing." He added lamely.

As they all got out of the car, Sam gave a questioning look to Daniel. "But I thought you said she was British."

"Oh she is. Well, Welsh actually. But she's very…zen-like. She's an interesting girl, I'm sure you'll like her." Daniel finished off.

As they approached the entrance, they noticed a young woman standing out on the grass by the door. She was barefoot, wearing loose clothes. She was standing with her legs spread wide for balance, head tilted back, and eyes closed. On closer inspection, it seemed she was swaying slightly back and forth.

"Lizzie?" Daniel called out to her. Sam and Jack shot him a curious glance. He shrugged. "Starting early?" He asked, jokingly.

Startled by the voice, Lizzie's eyes popped open and she swayed violently before catching her balance just in time to keep herself from falling to the ground. Looking around, she saw Daniel, Teal'c and the other two standing nearby, gazing at her with concern. Snapping out of her daze, she walked closer.

"Daniel, Murray! It's good to see you!" She turned to the others. "And you must be Samantha Carter," She reached out her hand, and Sam shook it. "And…Jack O'Neill?" She asked, shaking hands with Jack as well. He nodded. "It's great to finally meet you, Daniel and Murray have spoken so much about you I told them they had to bring you by sometime soon." She gestured back toward the entrance to the studio. "Are you all staying for the meditation session?" She asked.

After a few glances back and forth, both eager and not so eager, they all turned back to Lizzie. "Yep, looks like we're all staying." Daniel said with a smile, as they followed Lizzie into the building.

* * *

Two months

Lizzie walked down the silent street, making her way home from a late night at the Center. She started off very confident, but as time went on, and the streets became emptier, she really wished she still had her dog, Milo. But empty was good, she reminded herself. It meant there was no one there to bother her. Or so she hoped.

As she headed into a more disreputable section of town, she picked up her pace. Normally, she wouldn't walk this way, but construction along her normal route had closed the road, and she'd had to find an alternate route home. And this was it. She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, and glanced back quickly to see two young men walking together, talking and laughing. They had just come out of one of the buildings nearby and were walking along the sidewalk behind her.

After a while, and many turns of the road later, she realized that the two men were still behind her, and closer than they had been before. Suddenly she couldn't hear them, so she turned around to check. The men were right behind her and one of them grabbed her and pulled her into an alley between buildings.

She shouted for them to let her go, and when they wouldn't, she began to shout for help. One of the men made an angry noise and backhanded her across the face to make her stop. The sharp pain caused the desired result, and she quieted as she tasted blood in her mouth. She slumped down, one of the men reaching out to grab her as she slid to the ground against the brick wall, not out of pain, but out of defeat.

* * *

Daniel woke bleary eyed to the sound of his phone ringing. Once he realized that was what it was, he reached out to the bedside table and grabbed the receiver. "Hello?" He spoke into the phone, apprehensively. The only sound was sniffling. "Hello? Who is this?" He asked.

The sniffing stopped abruptly and a panicked voice came through. "Daniel?"

"Oh my god. Lizzie? Is that you?" Daniel sat up in bed and turned on the lamp on the table. "What's wrong, what's happened?" He asked with concern.

Haltingly, Lizzie spoke. "I-I was walking home…late, and…and there were these men…following me." She stopped for a moment, then continued. "They grabbed me…pulled me into an alley…and…" Lizzie faltered to a stop, crying full bore now.

Daniel waited for a few seconds to make sure she was finished, then spoke comfortingly. "Its okay, Lizzie. You're okay now. Right?" He asked. "You're out of danger now?"

"Yes." Lizzie mumbled in response.

"Okay, that's good. Now, where are you?" He asked, willing her to give him something useful.

"I'm…I'm at a pay phone. Outside a…Laundromat." She sobbed a bit. "I didn't have any money, Daniel! I didn't have any money, so I had to go in and ask for money." Her full tilt outburst stopped. "They looked at me like I was…trash." She said gloomily.

Daniel thought. "Well, you probably don't look your best right now, but at least they were nice enough to give you some money." He said encouragingly. "What's the name of the Laundromat?" He pressed.

"Gordon St. Laundry." Lizzie said after a pause.

Even better than he had hoped. "Okay, that's perfect. I'm going to come get you, okay?" He heard her make some incoherent sound he assumed was an affirmative. "I just have to hang up the phone and get in the car, and I'll be right there, okay?"

"No! No, please don't hang up!" She cried out desperately.

"I'm sorry Lizzie, but I have to. I'm on my house phone." He thought of something. "Do you still have some money from what they gave you?" He asked.

"Yes…" Lizzie responded warily.

"Good. Now I'm going to hang up, and I want you to call my cell-phone, okay? Do you know the number?" He asked.

"Yes." She said after a moment. "You'll pick up?" She asked uncertainly.

"Of course I will, Lizzie, as soon as it starts ringing." He reassured. "Now I have to hang up. Just call me right back, okay?"

"Okay." She said, then Daniel hung up and rushed to get his cell-phone out of his jean's pocket before slipping them on and some shoes and a coat. As he was pulling the coat on, the phone rang, and he immediately flipped it open to answer.

"Is that you, Lizzie?" He asked.

"Yes! You answered!" She sounded frantic again.

"And why wouldn't I, I told you I would. Now I have to go get in my car now, but don't worry, I'm still here." Daniel said as he left his bedroom and walked through the house, out the front door, and up to his car. Getting in, he turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from his house. "I'm on my way now, Lizzie."

He talked her through his entire drive, and it seemed like she was calming down toward the end. When he finally reached Gordon Street, he saw the Laundromat and the pay phone booth outside of it. A few people were standing in the doorway of the Laundromat, staring out at the phone booth. He parked in the small parking lot there in front of the building. "Okay, I'm here now, so I'll hang up." He said.

"Okay." Lizzie said. She sounded weary.

He flipped the phone shut, and got out of his car to approach the phone booth. When he reached it, he saw her slumped inside the booth with the door shut, the receiver still clutched in her hand. Slowly, he pushed the door open and crouched down. "Hey, Lizzie it's me, Daniel."

Her head jerked up at him, and he saw swelling and blood on her face. Her eyes were like the eyes of a stray cat, wild and scared. He reached down to her, wrapping his arms around her. She flinched when he first touched her, but then she relaxed into his embrace. They sat there for a few moments, then Daniel felt her shaking. Looking down, he saw she had started to cry. Rubbing her back, he whispered. "Why don't we go to my house? You can stay there till morning."

Lizzie nodded her head slowly up and down, and Daniel helped her to her feet. As she stepped out of the booth, though, her legs gave out from under her, and she barely missed collapsing on the concrete by the time Daniel managed to catch her. Not taking any chances, he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the passenger side of his car and rested her gently inside. Glaring at the still-staring Laundromat patrons, he crossed to the driver's side and got in. Turning on the engine, he began to drive back home.

By the time they reached his house, Lizzie had drifted into a deep sleep. Crossing back over to the passenger side, Daniel lifted her out of the car again and brought her into his house, carefully unlocking the door one-handed and pushing it open. Having no guest room, Daniel deposited her on his own bed, wrapped her up in a blanket, and retreated to the living room couch, leaving the door open in case she woke up. Luckily, she slept soundly all through the night. Or at least, she slept soundly enough not to wake him up, since Daniel fell asleep on the couch soon after putting her to bed.

* * *

Thinking to cheer her up, Daniel had gotten up early and made breakfast. Not sure what she liked, and remembering something about how eastern religious people didn't eat meat, he played it safe and made Lizzie waffles and orange juice. Well, technically, he didn't make the orange juice, he got it out of a bottle, and technically, he didn't make the waffles, he got the toaster kind and had just warmed it up in the toaster. But she didn't have to know that. And anyway, it was the thought that counted.

Turning on the television to watch the morning news, a report came on about two dead bodies found in an alley several blocks from Gordon Street. They were two males, in their twenties to thirties; both had lacerations all across their bodies as well as puncture wounds that went straight through the body, but not resembling a gun-shot wound. On them were various belongings: several wallets, jewelry, and other valuables. As the announcer showed the ID cards from the wallets, Daniel recognized Lizzie's face on one of them.

Turning around, he saw Lizzie standing in the doorway, staring at the television, a haunted look on her face. "Lizzie, those men who…attacked you, they've been killed." Daniel said. "Did…" _Did you kill them?_ No that was a silly question. "Do you know who killed them?" He said instead. Lizzie just stared absently at the screen. He noticed she had washed up, the blood was gone, and he could now see the cuts and bruises on her face and arms.

"I made you breakfast…" He said to change the subject. "Waffles and orange juice." He pointed at the table he had set them out on. Lizzie finally snapped out of her daze and looked over at him.

"No thanks, just some water." She said. She started to walk toward the front door. "I just need some air, I'll be back." But before she could move any farther, Daniel had dashed over and grabbed her arm. She jerked away, pointing panicked eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Daniel sighed. "It's just, I don't think you should be going outside and just wandering around. Plus, you really should eat something. Unless you're on a water diet or something." He said with a halfhearted laugh. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you eat or drink anything but water." He realized.

"It's just a strict diet." Lizzie said. "I take vitamins, don't worry." She added, attempting a smile.

"Okay, fine." Daniel said, not convinced. "Once I'm finished with _my_ breakfast, I'll drive you to the police station to pick up your belongings, then I can drop you off at your house before I go to work. That okay?" He asked.

Lizzie nodded, "Fine."

"By the way, whatever happened to Milo? I haven't seen him for a while." Daniel commented as he ate the breakfast he had made for her, not being much of a breakfast person, himself. Sometimes he felt like such a hypocrite.

"Oh, yeah. I miss him." Lizzie said sadly. "I had to give him away to one of my clients."

Daniel frowned. "What for?"

"He got into the greenhouse and was eating the exotic plants, he had to go." Lizzie said forcefully, a firm look on her face.

"Harsh." Daniel muttered, before wolfing down the rest of the breakfast and ushering Lizzie to his car and driving off.

* * *

A/N: Whew, that took a little bit longer than expected. Sorry, I should have warned about the two month event, but I didn't want to give it away. And I'm partially leaving it up to you to decide what actually happened, although some of the details will be cleared up later. I had intended to add one more month flashback, but decided to cut it for length. If I decide I need it, I may add it on to a normal chapter. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, and are looking forward to the next. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hope you've been enjoying this story so far, have been missing the reviews, so please guys, don't forget to review and tell me what you think! If you hate it, tell me you hate it, I've got great self esteem, don't worry! Okay, well anyway, back to the present.

**Chapter 7**

Lizzie had just escorted a family out her front door with calls of well wishes when the phone rang. Rushing back inside, she snatched the receiver off the table in the hallway and answered. "Hello, Lizzie Hayle speaking." She said very businesslike.

"Whoa! Never heard you answer the phone like that!" A man chuckled on the other end.

"Oh, Daniel! It's good to hear from you again. Sorry, I've been dealing with clients all day today, still in my business mode." Lizzie apologized.

"No problem." Daniel replied casually. "I've got some great news for you, Lizzie!" He burst out.

"Oh, really? Like what?" Lizzie countered.

"I finally got clearance for you to come to the base and give some yoga and meditation lessons!" Daniel said with exuberance.

Lizzie was speechless for a few moments. "Oh wow…really? This is going to be fantastic!" She bounced on her feet in glee.

"Yeah, I thought you would be happy. I called as soon as I found out." Daniel said. "So how's tomorrow?" He asked.

"Tomorrow what?" Lizzie asked, not thinking. "Oh, how's tomorrow to come to the base?"

"Yep." Daniel responded.

"That, that would be perfect!" She stopped to think. "Oh, but how am I going to get there?"

"Not a problem, Lizzie. I'll stop by tomorrow morning to pick you up on my way to work. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to stay with you the whole time you're there." He added reluctantly.

"What? Why?" Lizzie asked, a bit nervous.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. We've finished the major part of our negotiations with the ambassadors, and we're going to be giving them a tour of the facilities. Being the top liaison, I'm going to be heading the tour. It won't take too long, and I'll definitely be over by the time the session starts." Daniel reassured. "Oh, by the way, I've been spreading the word about it and there seem to be a lot of people interested!"

"That's great!" Lizzie said happily. "Well, I better leave you to finish your planning for your _big_ day tomorrow!" Lizzie said jokingly.

"Your big day, too, you know." Daniel pointed out. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at seven, is that okay?"

"Seven, yeah that's fine. See you then!" Lizzie said, then hung up the phone. Leaning back against the wall, she sighed happily. Finally, she was going to get to see where her friend Daniel and his friends worked. Tomorrow really was a big day.

* * *

Right on time, at seven exactly, Daniel pulled up to Lizzie's house. Seeing him, she made sure her front door was locked, then rushed down to his car. Or tried to rush, the four or five rolled mats over her shoulders were slowing her down a bit. Laughing, Daniel called out the window.

"You need any help with that?" He asked with a smile.

Huffing, she reached the passenger door and leaned on it. "No, just open the door for me." Once he had and she had stepped in, she turned to look at him. "I wasn't sure what resources you would have, so I brought some mats with me for the session." Pulling the door closed and clicking on her seatbelt, she shoved the mats into her footwell. "Not that it will be enough, if your estimates where right about how many would be coming." She shrugged. Pointing down the road she said imperiously, "Drive on!"

They both laughed as Daniel pulled away and headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. When they had gotten through the first few checkpoints and finally reached the parking lot, Daniel came around and helped Lizzie with the mats. Smiling her thanks, Lizzie stepped out of the car and they both made their way to the entrance to the facility.

Reaching the sign-in station, Daniel approached the guard, who smiled up at him. "Morning, Dr. Jackson." He said.

Daniel nodded to him. "Morning, Tanner." He responded, the guard beaming at Daniel's remembrance of his name. "Tanner, this is Lizzie Hayle." Daniel pointed behind him to Lizzie, who smiled shyly and waved. "She's with me."

"Oh, the yoga lady!" Tanner said, recognition dawning on his face. "I'd go, but I'll still be on duty." He said with a sigh. "Just your signature here, Miss Hayle." He said, pointing to the line under Daniel's signature.

Lizzie leaned down and signed the sheet, Daniel noticing her neat handwriting again. Frowning, he leaned in closer to see the signature. Looking over to Lizzie, a questioning smirk on his face, he opened his mouth to speak. Without even looking up from the paper, Lizzie held up her hand.

"Don't even." She said.

Holding back laughter, Daniel shrugged as she returned the sign-in sheet to Tanner and they both passed into the facility. Once they were in the elevator on the way down, Daniel turned to Lizzie, not being able to resist any longer.

"Lysandrea?" He said, laughter in his voice.

She sighed. "Yes." Glaring up at him with a mock threatening look, she continued. "And don't you tell Jack or the others that, okay? I'd never hear the end of it. Why do you think I go by Lizzie?"

Daniel shook his head, "Okay, but…Lysandrea?" He said again. Lizzie nudged him with her elbow just as the elevator doors opened on the 22nd floor. Looking out, he stepped through. "Okay, this way to the rec-room." He said, turning to the left. Lizzie followed after him.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the rec-room, which served as a gym, weight room, and pretty much anything else recreation-wise the base needed. "Okay," Daniel said, spreading his arms out to encompass the room. "Here it is. You can set up in here, stretch, relax, whatever you want to do." He glanced down at his watch. "I should be back in about two hours, which is a half hour before the session starts. See you then!" He said with a smile, waving as he stepped out and wandered off down the hall.

"Bye…" Lizzie called after him, then glanced around at the large room. Smiling, she started setting out mats. "This is going to be great!" She said to herself. Once she was finished, she settled down on one of them and did a few sitting stretches.

* * *

Daniel got to the briefing room, hearing arguing before he even stepped through the door. Coming in, he saw the three ambassadors from the Union planet gesturing angrily at Jack. General Hammond was standing a bit back, the look on his face not too happy.

"We will not stand for this!" The leader shouted; Jack had decided to call him Twiggy, due to the small twigs that seemed to stick out of his medium length white hair, and for the fact that he was rather tall and thin.

Jack threw up his hands. "And I'm not going to stand for you seeding your crazy thinking plants all over the planet!" He shouted back.

"Jack…what's going on?" Daniel asked apprehensively.

Jack turned to face Daniel, a look of relief on his face. "Ah, Daniel! Now you can take care of Twiggy's crazy demands." He walked over, patting Daniel on the shoulder. "Good luck!" He started to leave the room.

"Wait! Jack, what demands?" Daniel grabbed Jack's sleeve before he could leave the room.

"Ehh…Twiggy here wants to be allowed to grow his stupid amplifiers on Earth as part of our trade agreement." Jack said with a sigh.

"Amplifiers?" Daniel thought for a moment. "Jack, they're called amphelos." He sighed. "And you're right, I don't think that's a good idea." He turned around. "General, what's your opinion on this?"

Hammond looked pointedly at the ambassadors, who were still standing there, seemingly having their own exchange, only a bit less openly. They were looking at each other, facial expressions changing every once in a while, and glancing back at Daniel, Jack and the General. It seemed psychic could be added to their list of abilities.

"I think that this requires more negotiation. Dr. Jackson, if you could discuss the matter with the leader, Jack can take the other two on their tour." General Hammond said, gesturing to the man and woman who were with the leader. Jack had dubbed them Spike and Flora, respectively.

A bit taken aback, Daniel nodded. Jack just shrugged and motioned for Spike and Flora to follow him. They exchanged glances with Twiggy, then followed Jack. Hammond nodded back to Daniel, then retreated to his office. Daniel and the leader were the only ones in the room now.

"Okay, well…" Daniel said, not so eloquently. "Let's talk about those seeding rights." He sat down at the briefing table, and the other man sat down across from him, reluctantly.

* * *

Jack started his tour out at the gate room, being the easiest room to start with. But by the time he got to the infirmary, he was fed up with the two silent plant people. Snatching a passing SF, he informed the young man that he was to take the two "guests" on a tour of the facility. Smiling at Spike and Flora, Jack left them in the not so capable hands of the completely out-of-water SF, and wandered off to the commissary to get something to eat.

* * *

Lizzie had almost finished her stretches when she heard someone's voice down the hallway. The snatches she could catch of what the person was saying had something to do with describing rooms. "It must be the tour group." She thought to herself, and continued doing her standing stretches.

Feeling a tingling in her spine, Lizzie turned around. Standing in the doorway were two people, a man and a woman, both with white hair and strange forest-dress. They both had a shocked look on their faces. Finally, the man stepped forward.

"Traitor!" He hissed, rapidly moving toward Lizzie. "Betrayer of the true Path!" Seeing Lizzie's confused look, he sneered. "Oh, yes. We have heard of you, those who would deny the true Union!"

Stepping closer, the woman joined the man. "Yes, our ancestors who came back from here hid you from us. But their children realized the corruption of the secret, and they gave it to us!" The two were now just out of arms length. Lizzie stood frozen. "We will hunt you down, like the filth you are!" The woman shouted, as both of them reached out their arms, flinging tendrils of vines at Lizzie.

Lizzie brought up her arms to hide her face, but the vines split, a few grabbing her arms and pulling them down, the rest wrapping around her neck. The vines sprouted thorns which dug into Lizzie's skin, causing blood to bead to the surface. Falling to her knees, Lizzie stared up at the two people and their triumphant expressions. Bleeding and suffocating, Lizzie tried to hold on to consciousness, feeling a nudge of support from within. But it wasn't enough. Black spots started creeping into her vision.

Just as she was about to pass out, someone came running into the room. They looked at the scene and immediately punched a big red button on the wall, causing an emergency alarm to sound. The jarring sound managed to keep her semi-conscious long enough to see a figure she thought was Jack come running in and drag the two people away from Lizzie. Unfortunately, at the time of the dragging, she was still attached to them, so she fell face first to the ground and was pulled with them.

A hand brushed against her neck, roughly trying to pull the vines off of her. She had closed her eyes and was drifting away when she felt someone roll her onto her back. The last thing she felt was a soft caress of her face. Thinking it was him, her mind felt an onrush of green as she smiled and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Daniel rushed into the infirmary, looking around till his gaze fell on Jack standing at the end of a bed talking to Dr. Frasier. He rushed over. When he got there, he could see Lizzie lying on the bed, asleep with her arms at her sides. Both her forearms were wrapped with bandages, as was her neck. Daniel shot a concerned look at Frasier.

"Is she okay? What happened?" He asked frantically. "I heard that the other two ambassadors are in holding cells under armed guard. What's going on?"

"Calm down, Daniel." Janet said, gesturing for him to lower his voice. "Miss Hayle is fine, for the moment." Seeing Daniel's worried gaze, she elaborated. "All I can tell you is that she has puncture wounds and abrasions on both her forearms and her neck. She was suffering from blood loss and the loss of oxygen to her brain." Gesturing toward Lizzie's prone form, she picked up the clipboard hanging from the end of the bed and walked closer. "We've treated her wounds, and given her some medication for pain, and to allow her body to re-normalize itself. She's sleeping soundly now."

"See, Daniel. Lizzie's doing fine." Jack reassured, resting his arm on Daniel's shoulder.

"But what happened, Jack. Who did this to her?" Daniel asked. "Was it the ambassadors?"

"Yes. It was." Jack said matter-of-factly. "I didn't see the whole thing, but when I came in, they both had their viny things wrapped around her neck and holding her arms down." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know how accurate this is, but the SF that was with them said that he heard them shouting something about 'Betrayer' and 'Traitor'. I dunno."

"An SF?" Daniel said, confused. "You were supposed to be with them, Jack. Are you telling me that you pawned them off on some SF and went off on your merry way?" Daniel thought for a second. "And if the SF was with them, how is it that he didn't know what they said, and why would he have let them do that?" Daniel collapsed into one of the chairs near the bed.

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry Daniel." Jack said seriously. "I should have been with them, but I wasn't. The SF told me he had been stopped by one of the scientists. He didn't know that the ambassadors weren't still with him until he heard the shouting. Then he went to investigate."

A nurse bustled into the room with a medical report and handed it to Dr. Frasier. Janet flipped through it, then frowned. "This is not good." She said.

"What?" Jack and Daniel said simultaneously.

"This is a recent report on Lizzie's condition." Janet shook her head. "After all we've done, she should be getting better, but for some reason, she's not. Her vitals are deteriorating rapidly, and it seems like several of her organs are beginning to fail. This makes no sense." She said half to herself.

"What? Organ failure?" Daniel stood up, his concern renewed. "How?" He asked desperately.

"I don't know." Janet Frasier said, shaking her head sadly.

"I've…been….poisoned." A quiet voice came from the bed. Daniel rushed over and looked at Lizzie.

"What? Poisoned? How do you know?" He tried to resist patting her hair down, choosing to grasp her hand instead.

"We've been warned…about this…for a long time." Lizzie took a deep breath. "I never…thought it would happen…in my generation…though." Daniel opened his mouth to say something, but Lizzie shook her head. "Call my…parents." She said, before falling back into unconsciousness.

Daniel glanced around frantically. "Her phone! Where's her cell-phone?" He looked up at Jack desperately. "It will have her parent's phone number in it, we have to find it!"

Jack nodded grimly at Daniel, ushering him out of the infirmary. "We will, Daniel. We will."

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know this one is a bit shorter than past ones, but I hope it made up for it with content. I hope you enjoyed it, please review, and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Okay, apologies for the stretch between this chapter and the last. Continued work on the house, and a bit of shocking news, slowed me down quite a bit. But never fear, here it is, the next chapter!

This chapter is dedicated to Don S. Davis (1942-2008). Goodbye Hammond of Texas.

**Chapter 8**

Having finally found Lizzie's phone, and finishing the ensuing search for her parents' number, Daniel stood outside the infirmary with her phone in his hand. Staring down at the number he had dialed, but had yet to hit connect, Daniel tried to think of what to say. What _do_ you say to someone whose child is about to die from a poison no one knows the antidote for?

A hand settled on Daniel's shoulder, causing him to jump and glance over. "Do you want me to do it, Daniel?" Jack asked, understanding what Daniel was going through. Daniel furrowed his brow, glanced down at the phone and then back up to Jack.

"No." He shook his head. "I can do it." Daniel tried to give an encouraging smile. He failed miserably. "Who's in with her now?" Daniel asked, trying to change the subject, jerking his head toward the infirmary door.

"Doc Frasier's keeping an eye on her, Carter's 'interviewing'" Jack made the quote gesture with his hands. "the other two ambassadors. Twiggy's down there with them." Seeing Daniel's harrowed look, Jack added, "But I'll go in and sit with her while you make the call, Daniel." Clapping Daniel's shoulder one last time, he walked through the door.

Sighing, Daniel hit the connect button and put the phone up to his ear. It rang several times; he was about to hang up when someone picked up.

"Lysandrea?" A woman's voice spoke. "Dear, I didn't think you'd be calling until later. Shouldn't you be at work?" She admonished.

"Hello…uh." Daniel stopped, completely lost as to what to say next.

"Who are you?!" The woman, presumably Lizzie's mother, said in surprise. "Where's my daughter?!" A clattering sound came from the background, and a gruff voice mumbled something.

"Hello?" A man asked into the phone. "Who are you and why do you have my daughter's phone?"

Clearing his throat, Daniel tried again. "Uhh…I'm Daniel Jackson, a…uh…friend of your daughter. She's very…sick." Letting out his breath, he shook his head. This wasn't going too well.

"Lizzie's sick?" Her father asked, obviously surprised by the idea. "How could she be sick?"

"Well, actually…she's not sick. She's been poisoned." Daniel paused. "Or at least, that's what she said. She was attacked by…some people. She only sustained minor injuries, but for some reason, her body's shutting down." He sighed. "I'm sorry, sir, but your daughter is dying."

"No…no she can't be. He can prevent things like that, why would she be dying?" Her father seemed to be talking to someone else.

"The last thing she said before losing consciousness was for us to call you. I'm assuming it was just to let you know what had happened. If you need transportation, we can have something arranged to get you here to see your daughter before…" Daniel trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"No. You don't understand. This _can't_ be happening!" Mr. Hayle shouted. "Wait…you said your name was…?"

"Daniel Jackson." Daniel supplied.

"Yes…you were that man Lizzie spoke of. You were a good friend, Mr. Jackson, she really appreciated everything you did." He paused. "But she didn't tell you, did she?"

"Harper! That is her choice!" Lizzie's mother's voice came through.

"I understand that, Gwyn, but she may not _have_ a choice anymore." Harper said back, reproachfully.

"Uh, excuse me." Daniel cut in. "I don't mean to interrupt but…_what_?"

A heavy sigh came over the line. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, son. But Lizzie is…different. All right, fine woman!" Mr. Hayle barked to his wife. "My wife is right, its Lizzie's right to tell you. You should really talk to her. And…tell her…we don't know what to do."

Before Daniel could say more, the line went dead. Taking the cell-phone away from his ear and flipping it shut, he stared at it in confusion for a bit. Shaking his head, he walked into the infirmary. Jack turned his head as he approached.

"How did it go?" He asked, searching Daniel's face.

"Honestly?" Daniel shook his head. "I have no idea." Jack frowned at him. "No, seriously. I told them that Lizzie had been poisoned by some unknown poison, and that she was going to be dying. They adamantly refused to believe she could be sick or dying. Then they got in a fight about whether or not they should tell me…something. About her. Finally, her father said I should ask her." Daniel leaned around Jack's seated figure to take a look at the bed. "Is she conscious?"

Hearing the question, Janet came over. "No, not right now. But if you really need to speak to her, I can give her a stimulant to bring her back to consciousness." She shook her head. "But I really don't know what that will do to her condition."

Daniel thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "We really need to speak to her." Janet shrugged and readied a needle. Inserting it into Lizzie's IV, she emptied the plunger.

"There, it should take effect almost immediately." She said. Only a few seconds later, Lizzie's body tensed up and her eyes flew open. She immediately tried to sit up as she let out a gasp. Dr. Frasier rested a firm hand on her chest. "Just lie back. You're fine for right now, no need to exert yourself."

"Lizzie?" Daniel spoke, trying to get her attention. It worked. Her head whipped around to face him, and her look of fear and surprise lessened.

"Daniel." She frowned. Then things seemed to click. "My parents! Did you…ahh!" She hissed. "Did you…call them?" She finished.

Daniel nodded. "I did, but I didn't get much from them. They said there was something you should tell me…and that they don't know what to do…whatever that means." He frowned, hoping Lizzie could shed some light on the matter.

But his words had the opposite effect. Her whole demeanor seemed to…slump, and her face took on a look of shocked defeat. "No…" she said quietly. "No…I was sure they would know how to get rid of the poison." She started to cry. "What am I going to do…?"

Suddenly, her whole body went tense again, and her face was filled with pain. Before anyone could move, she sighed and relaxed back onto the bed, her eyes closed. Shaking her head, Dr. Frasier checked Lizzie's vitals and then moved away. "I didn't think it would last very long, I just hope it didn't do too much damage." Turning to look at the other two, she said, "She's not going to be waking up any time soon. I can let you know when she does; you don't have to stay here."

Jack nodded and started to walk away; turning when he saw Daniel had taken his seat by the bed. "I think I'll stay." Daniel said to the room. Nodding in understanding, Jack left, followed by Janet.

After a few minutes of sitting next to Lizzie's unconscious form, Daniel noticed movement, and glanced up. Lizzie's eyes were open, and she was slowly opening and closing her mouth. Leaning forward, he touched her arm. "Lizzie?" He asked.

Her head slowly moved around to face him, tilting this way and that. Her mouth continued to open and shut, and Daniel noticed the look of curiosity on her face. Finally, she spoke. "This…is…different." She said, slowly. The words seemed to be rolled around her mouth, like she was trying out a new language for the first time. Her voice sounded slightly deeper, too.

"Lizzie?" Daniel asked again, worried.

"I…am sorry…to alarm…you." She stopped and worked her jaw back and forth. "It is…a new…experience…for me." Seeming to get a hang of things, she began to speak more smoothly. "We are…not supposed to interact…in this way. But she was too weak…and there is important…information to give."

Realizing that he wasn't speaking to the same person, Daniel scooted back in his chair. "Who are you?" He asked.

"I am…him. That is the only name she has ever…given to me." Whoever was in Lizzie attempted a smile. "I cannot sustain this control over her body. It is too…complex. But there is something I must tell…you."

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I know the…antidote. It comes from the…Mother. Just like the poison." Gasping, 'he' seemed to be losing control. "Go to Union. The elixir…all people drink. The Mother…gives it to them…" And her eyes closed again.

Jumping up and rushing out of the room, Daniel collided with Jack, who had been on his way back to check on the archaeologist. Grabbing him by the shoulders, Daniel looked at him desperately. "Jack! Do you remember any of the people of Union drinking a special drink? Something they all had?"

"Uh, Daniel?" Jack asked, brushing Daniel's hands off his shoulders. "You okay?"

Daniel shook his head frantically. "Just answer the question!"

Frowning, Jack thought for a moment. "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. That Tang-looking stuff all the people were drinking when we showed up in the meeting house." He shrugged. "I was gonna ask for some, but they all put it away as soon as we showed up."

Smiling widely, Daniel said a quick 'Thank you' before rushing past down the hallway. Not thinking it would be a good idea to leave the obviously insane doctor running around the base, Jack took off after him.

When they both finally stopped, Jack noticed they were outside the holding cells that the ambassadors were being kept in. Nodding to one of the guards, Daniel was let into one of the rooms, followed by Jack. Inside, Carter was sitting at a table with the man dubbed Spike across from her. Not taking any notice of Sam, Daniel rushed around the table and grabbed Spike, lifting him to his feet.

"Who is the Mother? Where is she?" Only receiving a shocked look in return, Daniel shook the man in frustration. "Tell me!" He shouted.

"Daniel." Jack said, trying to calm him down, as he walked up and pulled him away from the ambassador.

"Sir?" Carter asked in confusion. Jack returned the look, shaking his head in reply.

"Daniel, why don't you sit down." Jack said, fatherly, as he shooed Carter out of her chair and deposited Daniel in it. "Now, what's going on?" He asked.

Daniel just shook his head, then leaned forward and slammed his hands down on the table. "Just tell me who she is and where to find her!" He growled over at the other man, who had retaken his seat.

"Who, Daniel?" Jack asked. "Who are you talking about?" Before he could get an answer, Spike interrupted.

"How do you know Her? Who told you about the Mother?" He stopped, a sneer coming across his face. "It was that traitor, wasn't it? She's trying to get you to heal her." He shook his head. "We will not allow it."

Completely lost, but trying not to look it, Jack stepped in. "I don't think you're in any position to not allow anything right now, Spike."

"If you don't tell us, we'll just have to go ask your friends. But either way, we _will_ find the Mother, and there is nothing you can do to stop us." Daniel said darkly. Fed up, he left the room.

Minutes later, Jack and Carter came out to see him leaning against the wall, waiting for them. Stepping away from the wall, he came up to them. "Did he say anything? Did he tell you where she is?" He asked urgently.

Jack just shook his head, but Sam spoke up. "Daniel, what's going on? Who is this Mother, and how do you know about her?"

"It was Lizzie…or, not Lizzie, but 'him'." Daniel said, emphasizing 'him'. Seeing their confused looks, he continued. "After she passed out, she seemed to wake back up again, but she was acting really…"

"Weird?" Jack put in.

"Not what I was going for, but yes." Daniel said, shooting a glare at Jack. "There was someone else inside her body, it said all she had ever called it was 'him'. He told me that the cure to the poison was the elixir created by the Mother, that all the people of Union drink." Daniel watched Jack and Sam exchange concerned looks. "We _have_ to find her! We _have_ to get the antidote!"

Shrugging, Jack walked a bit down the hallway. "Well then. Let's try door number two!" Nodding to the guard outside, he was let in, quickly followed by Sam and Daniel.

* * *

A/N: Okay, for those of you who don't know what Tang is, it's like an energy drink mixed with orange juice, I drank it a lot when I was a kid. Invented by the space program, no less! Or at least that's what they say! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, hope it's beginning to solve some questions, and hope you review and tell me how you liked it!

Happy Independence Day to all you US folks!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks to all of you who have stuck with this story so far, I hope you have enjoyed it, and I hope you continue to enjoy. Please don't forget to review or send me a pm if you'd prefer, I'd love to hear any feedback you'd like to give me!

**Chapter 9**

SG-1 sat around the briefing table, along with General Hammond and Dr. Frasier. The general looked around at the various expressions on the faces of his best team. O'Neill, always concerned about his team, had his eyes trained on Daniel, whose head was down as he absently fiddled with a pen. Carter kept switching back and forth between O'Neill and Daniel, unsure which person needed more attention. As his usual stoic self, Teal'c sat straight in his chair, eyes locked with Hammond. All the worry and caring for his team that Teal'c felt was shown in those unblinking eyes. Having just received a new report from one of her nurses, Dr. Frasier was intently perusing the file. Finally, Hammond spoke.

"What news do we have, doctor?" He asked Janet. She glanced up from her report with a grim look on her face.

"Well, sir, Lizzie's vitals have stabilized, for the time being. But they're not good. Honestly, sir, I don't know how she's survived this far." Frasier shrugged. "The majority of her major organs are operating at far below the levels I'd prefer." Setting a glossy picture on top of the file, she slid it across the table toward the General. "Look at this though, sir."

Teal'c had retrieved the file and handed it to Hammond. Hammond looked at the image. It seemed like it was something that should be familiar. Rows of somewhat green tinged boxy objects filled the picture. Each box had a darker circle within it. He looked up at the doctor. "What is it, Dr. Frasier?"

Before Janet could answer, Carter held out her hand for the picture. "Can I take a look, sir?" She asked. Hammond nodded and passed it over. Immediately Carter's expression changed to one of recognition. "This is an image through a microscope of plant cells. What does this have to do with Lizzie's condition?"

At the word 'plant' Daniel's head popped up and he wordlessly snatched the photo from Carter. Staring at the picture, he started to shake his head. Everyone else at the table had turned their attention to him, concerned. After a moment, Dr. Frasier spoke up. "At first, the people from the lab thought they had mixed up the samples. But after checking and rechecking they discovered that the picture sitting right there is actually a sample of Lizzie's cell structure." Everyone but Daniel stared at Janet in shock.

"Are you telling me that this girl has plant cells in her body?" Hammond asked, unbelieving.

"I'm afraid so, sir." Janet said reluctantly. "Now, we're not sure yet whether this changes the way we treat her condition, but at the very least it means that we have something decidedly alien on our hands."

Sam had been eyeing Daniel worriedly, and she reached out her hand and touched his shoulder. "Daniel?" She said quietly. He jerked his head up, making her jump. Pushing his chair back, he stood up.

"We need to get that elixir. Let's stop wasting time and just do it." He gazed defiantly at Jack.

"I understand your wish for us to get the antidote, Dr. Jackson." Hammond tried to talk down the obviously passionate archaeologist. "But what do we know? Where is it, how do we get it?" He looked around at the team.

"Well, sir, we didn't get much from the ambassadors." O'Neill spoke up. "We know this 'Mother' is in the forest surrounding the village we visited. We know that we can get the elixir from her, or we can try to obtain some from the village itself. The people there drink it all the time." He added.

"Who is this 'Mother'?" General Hammond asked.

"From what the ambassadors told us, the Mother was the first amphelos to reach sentience. She's the one that all the other amphelos grew from. The amphelos are able to produce a debilitating and potentially lethal poison that is secreted through the pores and thorns. The Mother also has this ability, but she is the only one who produces an antidote. The poison is unique in the fact that the amphelos are not intrinsically immune to its effects, neither are their hosts. Constant dosage of the elixir builds up an immunity over time, so the majority of adult Union are completely immune to its effects. Children are more susceptible, but since the elixir is so readily available, it doesn't seem to be a problem." Sam paused in her explanation. "If we can find the Mother, we should be able to either collect secretions of the antidote, or take a sample of her and synthesize the antidote on our own."

"What if you can't?" The general asked, not too happy about all the 'if's'.

"If we can't get anything from the Mother, we'll just have to borrow some from the villagers." Jack put in. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, if you're sure about this, then you have a go. You can get your things ready and leave immediately." As everyone began to get up Hammond added. "I don't feel I need to tell you how dangerous it would be if those people find out about what's going on with the ambassadors, Colonel."

"No, sir." Jack said, nodding grimly. "I understand completely."

As the rest of the team rushed out of the briefing room to head to the lockers, Daniel approached Dr. Frasier. Intent on clearing up her papers and placing them back in her file, she didn't notice him until he spoke. "Janet?" He said quietly. She glanced up.

"Oh, Daniel! I didn't know you were still in here. What can I do for you?" She asked. The way he'd been acting during the briefing worried her.

"You'll let me know as soon as she wakes up, won't you?" Daniel asked, looking very distraught.

Understanding, Janet put her file back on the table and wrapped her arms around Daniel in a comforting hug. Stepping back, she nodded to him. "Of course, Daniel. We all know how close you two were. As soon as she regains consciousness, I will let you know." Picking up her things and walking to the door, she turned around in the doorway. "She's going to be all right, Daniel. We'll take good care of her." Then she left.

* * *

As SG-1 stood at the base of the ramp, checking all their gear for the last time, Jack kept an eye on Daniel. The young man seemed distracted, Jack was sure he wasn't telling them something. As the wormhole activated and Hammond gave the go ahead, the colonel let those thoughts drift to the back of his mind as he led his team up the ramp.

Just as O'Neill was about ready to step across the event horizon, Dr. Frasier came running into the control room. She exchanged quick words with the general, then leaned down to speak through the comm system. "Dr. Jackson! She's awake!"

Daniel whipped around and stared at the control room, a look of surprise on his face. Turning back to the rest of the team, he didn't even have to say anything before Jack nodded his head in permission. With a wide grin, the first the team had seen on him since this whole fiasco started, he rushed down the ramp, sloughing off gear as he went. By the time he reached the blast doors, he broke into a run and disappeared. Frasier hurried out of the control room to follow.

"Should we wait for him, sir?" Sam asked Jack. The three of them were standing awkwardly before the shimmering pool of the active Stargate.

O'Neill shook his head. "Nah, Daniel's got a friend to take care of. He's not going anywhere." Looking up to where General Hammond stood in the control room, he called out. "Sir, if it's okay with you, I'd like us to continue without Daniel."

"If you feel you can accomplish the mission, its fine with me." Hammond replied. "I'm sure Dr. Jackson will be perfectly occupied here on the base."

"Yes, sir!" Jack called back. Turning, he faced the event horizon. "Let's move out, team!" He ordered, before stepping through the puddle. Carter and Teal'c followed.

* * *

Reaching the infirmary, Daniel approached the bed Lizzie was in. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, young lady." He said when he saw that her eyes were, indeed, open.

Propping herself up on an elbow, Lizzie attempted a smile. "How did you guess?" She asked in a weak voice.

"Come to think of it, there were more than enough clues." Daniel mused. "If I would have met you only a few weeks ago, after…" He paused, then moved on. "Anyway, if I would have met you after that, then all these things that would normally seem just eccentric would have clicked into what was really going on." Daniel shook his head. "But I met you before I met Neolaía, and back then, I didn't know anything about the amphelos."

"Are you mad?" Lizzie asked, not sure of what his reaction was going to be.

"Mad?" Daniel asked absently. "No, not mad. I mean, how could you know I'd believe you if you told me the truth. It's not exactly something you hear everyday. 'Oh and by the way, I'm an alien from another planet, and I have a plant that lives inside my body.'" He smiled ironically over at her. "Although, in my profession, I hear things like that more than you think." Daniel shrugged. "But you wouldn't have known that."

Lizzie rested back on the bed. "You're wrong about one thing, Daniel. I'm not from another planet." Daniel gave her an inquisitive look.

"Well last time I checked, people didn't have sentient plants living inside them on planet Earth." He said. "How much of what you've told me over the past few months have been true, and how much were lies?" Daniel asked, giving Lizzie a piercing look.

She sighed. "Almost all of it is the truth, Daniel. I really am from Earth. I was born in Wales, like I told you, just like my parents were. Just like their parents, and their parents, all the way back to when the Romans spread to the British Isles, back to when the Greek culture was trumped by the Roman one, and as far back as when a few strange and foreign people came from Mesopotamia to Greece, thousands of years ago. If that doesn't make me a citizen of Earth, I don't know what does." She gave him a self righteous look.

"You…you're from Earth?" Daniel stammered, the pieces of the puzzle sliding into place. He smacked his forehead. "Oh my god! The people of Union who came to Earth during the reign of the goa'uld in Babylon. The ones who Neolaía told me about." He shook his head. "But they went back to Union, telling the others not to…return." And then it dawned on him. "They didn't leave because the goa'uld killed most of them, did they?"

Lizzie shook her head. "No, in fact, the goa'uld managed to kill very few of that first expedition. No, they told no one to come back because many of us stayed behind. They knew it would be sacrilege if the others found out. They were still faithful to the ways of Union, and the path to the Great Union. They left to keep themselves from getting corrupted. But back then, there were people who believed in free will." She shrugged, wincing as she did so. "Not anymore, I guess."

Beginning to realize how big this picture was, Daniel asked Lizzie a question. "So, how many of you are there?" He almost dreaded the answer.

"Thousands, maybe even millions? I'm not even sure." Daniel looked at her in shock. "We live in communities, of a sort. I would know better than most, being a keeper, but even I don't know everything."

"A keeper? What's that?" Daniel asked.

"They're the ones who care for the farms. The amphelos farms. That's why I moved here. When a community grows to a certain size, they qualify to have their own farm. The Colorado Springs area had just topped the size, so I was sent over to set up a farm. Before my farm, the closest farm was two hours away. Not exactly convenient." She smiled.

"Farm? The greenhouse. It's the greenhouse, isn't it?" Daniel ironically mused that perhaps he should have brought a notepad, so he could write this all down.

"Yes." Lizzie nodded. "My greenhouse hosts a colony of amphelos. This is the 21st Century, Daniel. It's far too dangerous to just leave amphelos growing in the wild forests. We needed a safe, secure, and controlled place to let them grow." Seeing Daniel's skeptical look, she added. "We're different from Union. We don't let our amphelos take hosts by force. It's a mutual decision, I promise. But to be sure, we keep the amphelos literally under lock and key, so that there is no temptation to snatch some poor unsuspecting person who happens by."

"You were actually talking to them weren't you?" Daniel said with awe, changing the subject.

Lizzie gave him a curious look. "Talking to them, when?"

"In the greenhouse, when we stayed over. I came out looking for you and heard you talking in the greenhouse before I opened the door. I thought you were just talking to yourself or just, you know, talking to your plants." He stopped and shook his head. "But you were actually _talking_ to them."

Lizzie chuckled lightly. "Not just talking to them, Daniel. We were talking together. They are sentient, you know." She mocked him. Yawning, she gave Daniel a weak smile. "I just think I need…to get some more rest." Settling back, she closed her eyes and began drifting off.

"Well I guess I should have known they could communicate, but they obviously don't do it verbally. 'He' seemed pretty new to the speech idea when he spoke through you." Daniel commented.

Surprised, Lizzie opened her eyes again. "He spoke to you? Through me?" She was fighting off her exhaustion as best she could. "He's never done that before…what did he say?" She asked.

As Daniel began to reply he glanced over at Lizzie's face. Her eyes were closed again and she looked completely relaxed. Smiling, he patted her arm and got up. Walking toward the door to the infirmary, he saw Dr. Frasier coming down the hallway to him. "She's fallen back to sleep, Janet. But she does seem a bit better than she was before. Makes it hard to believe she's still dying." He mused.

"It always is." Janet commented. "By the way, if you'd like to sit with her, that's fine. SG-1 left without you, the Colonel didn't seem to think you'd mind." Walking past him, Frasier checked on Lizzie, then retreated to her office.

Daniel just smiled to himself, and walked back over to the chair by Lizzie's bed. Resettling himself, he began his vigil. Being on the other side of the situation was refreshing, but he really wished it wasn't under such dire circumstances.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so that's chapter nine. Once again, we'll be splitting, to Daniel and Lizzie on the base, and SG-1 on Union after this. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks to everyone who have been reading this and reviewing, I really appreciate the input! Hopefully the past few chapters and the upcoming chapters are nicely fast-paced and entertaining. The beginning was rather slow (setup that perhaps took a bit too long) but now that we are deep into the storyline, things should be much more interesting. Or I could just be deluded…take your pick.

**Chapter 10**

As SG-1 stepped through the wormhole on the other side, they looked around at the now familiar forest scene. Checking the area, O'Neill was glad to see there weren't any Union to meet them. "Okay, this is good. We should be able to just sneak in, snatch the juice, and sneak out." He nodded in satisfaction. "So…which way?" He asked Carter.

"Sir?" Sam said apprehensively. "Sir, you know for a fact that we don't have that information." Shifting her grip on her weapon, she glanced around. "We're just going to have to search manually."

"Ahhh…how hard could it be?" Jack said lightly. "All we're looking for is a big jumble of vines in the forest." Jack nodded confidently.

"O'Neill." Teal'c interrupted. "Is not the entire forest filled with climbing plant life?" Jack merely shook his head. Picking a direction randomly, he pointed.

"This way!" He said, and they all set off through the forest.

* * *

"So…why all the animosity between you guys?" Daniel asked Lizzie. The nurse had brought her a tray of food, but when the woman had left, Lizzie passed it over to Daniel. He tucked into the bowl of Jell-O as he waited for Lizzie's answer.

Taking a sip from the bottle of water that she had kept for herself, Lizzie swallowed and set it down. "Not to sound biased or anything, but the animosity only goes one way." She shrugged. "You know how it is with religion, people are really intolerant of other points of view. Since I'm sure you've had the primer on the Great Union, I guess I should fill you in on our take of it."

"That would be good." Daniel said with a smile. "You sure you don't want to eat any of this? Dr. Frasier won't be too happy to hear you're not eating." He offered the tray back to Lizzie. She shook her head.

"I don't eat food." Seeing his skeptic look, she laughed a bit. "Well, no, that's not entirely true. I don't need to eat food like you do. All my body needs to sustain itself is water, sunlight, and nutrients. Water, for obvious reasons, sunlight, for the photosynthesis required by my plant cells, and nutrients to provide any extra energy and sustenance. We usually get our nutrients from the soil, directly absorbed through the skin."

"Hence the walking around barefoot all the time…" Daniel commented thoughtfully.

"That's right. Technically speaking, I can eat the food if I want, it doesn't do any harm. But for ethical reasons, I prefer not to. I don't eat meat, which would only leave vegetables and fruits and nuts and the like, but having a plant living inside of you really changes the way you see things. It seems kind of rude to eat your cousins." She laughed at her last comment.

"Hmmm." Daniel rolled it around in his head for a while. "Oh, sorry for interrupting with that question, I didn't realize it had such a complicated answer. You can pick up where you left off." He waved her on as he moved on to the Salisbury steak.

"It's all right, Daniel. You deserve to know, I just hope I have enough time to tell it all. I may look a lot better, but he's holding me together as best he can. We probably don't have any more than another 24 hours, if that."

"Don't talk like that, Lizzie! Jack and the others will find the antidote, and then they're going to bring it back. You'll be fine." Daniel said with concern. If Lizzie didn't have the will to hold on, things would get much more difficult.

Lizzie shook her head, changing the subject. "So anyway, the differences between us and Union are pretty prolific. Or at least, in my opinion they are. For starters, the reason our ancestors broke away was the fact that they didn't believe the true path to Great Union was through destruction of individuality. The question we're always asking is, how can this immense sentient being known as the Great Union be built on essentially drone material? It can't! It takes away the essence of what sentient creatures are! The ideas were only just brewing when they came to Earth, but when they saw how free people lived here, so many choices, so much joy, they realized what they had been missing, and wanted it.

"One thing led to another, and when the goa'uld started hunting us down for teaching their slaves about our way of life, we knew it wasn't safe anymore. The entire expedition decided to leave, but they reached a consensus, it was too dangerous for our ancestors to return to Union. They would be persecuted and killed, and the others agreed to keep the secret safe. They left, and we never heard from them again." Lizzie reached for her water, gulping down several swallows.

"So you didn't even know that they were hunting for you?" Lizzie shook her head. "And why do you sometimes speak as if you were really there?" Daniel asked curiously.

"We didn't know that they were hunting us, because they weren't. Not until they found me." Lizzie looked down to her hands and sighed. "They weren't even sure we were still around, and now because of me, they'll hunt us all down."

"I'm not going to let that happen." Daniel said with feeling. "We have control of the Stargate and it's going to stay that way. They don't have spaceflight, so there's no way they'd be able to get here." He reached over and grasped Lizzie's hand encouragingly.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, you're right." She looked up at him with a much brighter look on her face. "You were asking me about why I speak as if I was there during those historical events?" Surprised by the change of subject for a moment, Daniel recovered and nodded. "Amphelos carry strong genetic memory. Both of their lives as plants growing in the ground, and the memories and feelings of their hosts. Did you know that amphelos don't actually have individual personalities before bonding with a human?" Lizzie asked Daniel.

"Really? So their sentience isn't really what we thought it was. So what is it, some sort of hive mind?" Daniel asked, remembering Jack had referred to it as that.

"Maybe…The amphelos in their natural state think communally. The directing force is the Mother, or at least, for them it is. Since the amphelos here don't actually serve a purpose like they did back on Union, they don't require as much direction. All they have to do is survive long enough to mature and take a host." Lizzie chuckled. "But that is one thing they are passionate about. Once an amphelos bonds with a host, they lose some of their communal mind powers. But the images and thoughts that do get back to the community ensure that they are more than eager to enjoy the experience.

An amphelos' greatest wish is to be able to develop an independent personality within, and with the direction of, the host. We do integrate our personalities to an extent, but nowhere near the extent that Union does." As she finished up, she glanced around distractedly. "What time is it?" She asked.

"Oh! Uhh…" Daniel looked down at his watch. "11:23 p.m." He answered. "Why?"

"Oh no!" Lizzie gasped, beginning to try to get out of bed. "I almost forgot! No, Daniel, I have to get my phone!" She pushed his hand away as he tried to keep her from getting up.

"I'll get it for you." Daniel held out his hand to tell her to stay put as he crossed the room to retrieve her cell-phone. Coming back with it, he handed it to her. "What do you need it for?" He asked.

Without answering, she flipped it open and dialed a number, putting it up to her ear. "Hello?" She said after a few moments. "Hello, Mrs. Fahran. I am so sorry I wasn't there today." She gushed apologetically.

"We were worried about you! What happened?" The woman replied with concern.

"It was just…an accident. I'm in the hospital for a day or so. Was Ahram upset?" Lizzie asked, apprehensively.

"Oh, no! Only worried for your safety. Ahram! Ahram, it is the Keeper, she is asking about you!" Lizzie heard the phone change hands, then a young boy's voice.

"Keeper! We were worried, are you all right?" He asked in a troubled voice.

Softening her voice, Lizzie tried to exude confidence. "I'm fine, Ahram. I'm sorry I wasn't there for your Teleti. I got hurt, but I'll be better soon." She smiled sadly up at Daniel. "If you are still sure, I can have a friend come by tomorrow and open the greenhouse for you. You can have your Teleti, and I will see you as soon as I'm better. Would you like that?" She asked kindly.

"Oh, yes, Keeper! I would love that! I'm so excited! Get better soon!" Ahram shouted excitedly before passing the phone off to his mother and running off.

"So, the Teleti can go on without you?" Mrs. Fahran asked. "Thank you very much for speaking to him, Keeper. He was very worried all evening." She added.

"Yes, Mrs. Fahran, I'm having a friend come by to open the greenhouse for you. You and he can wait in the house during the Teleti. By the way, he is not one of us, but he is a close friend I trust, so don't worry." Lizzie said, a small grin growing on her face.

"Anyone you trust is someone I will trust. We will be there at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, is that all right?" Mrs. Fahran asked, fully in her planning mode.

"Eight a.m. is fine, Mrs. Fahran. I'm sure he will be there promptly." She sent another smirk Daniel's way. "Tell Ahram I wish him luck in finding a partner." She sighed and leaned back in the bed.

"I will, Keeper. Please get better." The woman said pleadingly through the phone. Then she hung up.

"So…what was that about?" Daniel asked, not sure if he wanted to find out.

"Oh, just a rescheduled appointment." Lizzie said coyly. More seriously, she added. "Ahram Fahran is the son of one of us in this area. He's reached the right age, and was supposed to go through his Teleti, melding ceremony, this evening." Throwing up her hands, she said, "And since I was unexpectedly poisoned, I wasn't there for the ceremony. So I rescheduled it for tomorrow morning." She smiled. "And you are going to be presiding."

Nodding along with what Lizzie was saying, Daniel almost didn't catch the last thing she said. Slowing to a stop, he frowned. "'Presiding'? As in, like a priest?" He asked, complete astonishment on his face.

"Not like a priest. You don't have to do anything but let him into the greenhouse, and keep an eye on the door until he comes out. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I suppose hosting is a better word than presiding. You're there as moral support and entertainment for Mrs. Fahran." She raised an eyebrow. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Oh, sure. It's just what I wanted to be doing tomorrow morning." Thinking, Daniel sat down on the end of Lizzie's bed. "But Lizzie, I don't want to leave you here alone. What if…?" He trailed off.

"Now look whose being pessimistic. You said it yourself, I'm going to be fine." Lizzie said confidently. "Just make sure not to be there all day. I'll be fine for the time you'll be gone, but don't kid yourself. I'm not going to be around the next day." She added, matter-of-factly.

Settling back in the bed, Lizzie hissed a bit in pain, closing her eyes. "One more question, I promise!" Daniel said urgently. She slowly cracked one eye open.

"What?" She said with mock grumpiness.

"If you've got all these abilities given to you by the amphelos living inside of you, why didn't you fight back against the ambassadors?" He gave her a curious look. It had definitely been nagging him.

Lizzie sighed, closing her eye again. "I didn't want to hurt someone again." She said plainly.

"Hurt someone? Who have you hurt?" Daniel thought back, not being able to remember Lizzie even hurting a fly in all the time he'd known her.

"I didn't mean to do so much; I was just trying to defend myself. I guess I lost control." Lizzie spoke in a monotone. "They attacked me, wouldn't let me go, and I lashed out." She turned her head and buried it in the pillow.

Understanding dawned on Daniel. "That night two months ago. You called me because you got attacked by two men…" He thought over what that could mean. "You did kill them, didn't you?" He asked, too stunned to say anything else.

Lizzie looked up from her pillow, tears in her eyes. "You thought I killed them, even then?" She asked, noticing how he had phrased his question.

"Well, it crossed my mind, briefly." Daniel said reluctantly. "But I never _really_ thought you would have killed them!" He said in defense.

"Yes…" Lizzie nodded slowly. "I killed them. I lashed out and before I knew it they were dead. I vowed I would never do that again, even if it would save my life. That's why I didn't fight back." Lizzie rolled over to face away from Daniel, essentially telling him their discussion was over.

"Okay, well…Lizzie, I'm not angry at you, I understand. Its okay to defend yourself, but its okay to make the choice not to, as well. As long as you know what you're getting into." Reaching out, he rested his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it lightly. Lizzie stiffened under his touch. "And your decision wasn't a wrong one just because you got hurt. No matter what happens, not killing is always a good choice." Taking his hand away, he sighed. "You're tired, I should let you sleep. Just one thing, how do I—?" Daniel started to ask.

Lizzie pulled something off her neck and handed it back to him, never turning around. Taking it, he saw it was the key to her greenhouse she always kept on a cord around her neck. "Right, thanks." He said before slowly walking out of the infirmary to get some sleep. He had a big day tomorrow.

* * *

Still trudging through the woods, Jack O'Neill was about ready to call it a day and return to the Stargate. A few feet away, Carter was scanning the area when suddenly she stopped, motioning the others toward her. "By the way, are we really going to be able to tell between this 'Mother' and just your everyday brainy plant?" He asked, strolling over to see what she had been looking at.

"My guess is this is it." Sam said, pointing through the brush at an abnormally large mass of tangled vines which seemed to be continuously shifting and rustling. In front of it was a small clearing where three decorated bowls sat in a row below the vines. Tendrils of the mass were hanging down over the bowls and slowly dripping orange liquid into it.

"I believe those bowls are collecting the antidote we require." Teal'c stated moving forward to enter the clearing. Approaching footsteps made him retreat back to his position. Jack and Sam held their weapons ready and peeked around the brush to see who was coming.

Entering the clearing were three Union, their dress being the same as others SG-1 had seen, except for the fact that the clothing was white. They each knelt before a bowl, bowing their head before the massive tangle of vines. Jack heard a sound that nagged at him like the buzzing of a fly. He could tell it was saying something, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was. Then it stopped abruptly, and the three people rose, taking the bowls with them. Turning away, they left the clearing, bearing the bowls full of elixir back to the village, presumably.

Once he was sure they were gone, Jack spoke. "Well that makes things more difficult." He turned to Sam. "Carter, time for plan B."

"Plan B, sir?" Sam asked. Jack gave her a pointed look. "Oh, yes! Plan B being the plan where we take a clipping of the Mother and take it back to the labs. That plan B." Jack nodded before stepping into the clearing.

"O'Neill, will not this 'Mother' react negatively to our actions?" Teal'c asked as he followed Jack into the clearing. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a tendril of the mass whipped out at O'Neill. Stopping a few inches away from him, it seemed to be almost sniffing him up. Obviously not liking what it found, the tendril wrapped itself around Jack's neck in the blink of an eye.

Sam and Teal'c had stopped moving when the tendril first approached, but at this they rushed to help their friend. Choking and gasping, Jack slid his service knife out of its sheath and held it behind his back, away from the 'sight' of the Mother. Motioning with his other hand for the two to stay back, he adjusted his grip on the knife handle. Then he brought it up in one fast swing and severed the tendril wrapped around his neck from the rest of the mass. The remaining vine whipped back into the Mother, causing more of the strange buzzing noise and much shaking and rustling.

Grabbing the tendril that loosened its grip on his neck and fallen to the ground, O'Neill retreated from the clearing in a hurry. "I think we made her angry, maybe we should leave." He said offhandedly as he rushed for cover. Sam and Teal'c followed. "Well, at least we got what we wanted." He said from the safety of the brush. He rubbed his neck where red friction marks were showing. His once beet red face was returning slowly to its normal coloring.

"That's it, sir! Think on the bright side!" Sam said with mustered enthusiasm. Sighing as she leaned against the base of a tree, she glanced back and forth between Jack and Teal'c.

"O'Neill, I do not believe it is wise to remain here. The creature's agitation could have alerted others who will be here soon." Teal'c commented, helping Jack up from his squat.

"Not to mention that annoying buzzing sound. I don't think anyone could have missed that!" Jack grumbled. Teal'c and Sam exchanged curious looks. "Let's head back to the base." Handing the vine over to Sam, who immediately bagged it, Jack slowly started trudging back to the Stargate.

After Sam finished securing the specimen, she set of with Teal'c, who had waited for her. Heading off to catch up with Jack, they exchanged looks again. "Buzzing sound?" Sam queried. "I didn't hear anything, did you, Teal'c?"

"I did not." Teal'c replied plainly. "Perhaps it was merely an effect of the strangulation." He commented. Sam just shrugged.

* * *

A/N: Okay, sorry about the wait on this chapter, I ended up writing it in several sittings as apposed to my usual one time sitting. Hopefully the content made up for the wait, somewhat. Please don't forget to review and tell me how you liked it!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, been busy planning my birthday which was on the 25th! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and I'm hoping that this chapter ends up being interesting and exciting. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

**Chapter 11**

Jack O'Neill strolled into the infirmary, expecting to see Daniel on watch over Lizzie's bed. Scanning across the room, his eyes rested on the bed Lizzie was lying in, but to his surprise, there was no Daniel. Frowning, he approached the bed, taking the seat Daniel would have been resting in. "So, where's Daniel?" He asked as he settled in. "I would have thought he'd never let you out of his sight?"

Lizzie smiled weakly at him, shifting in her bed to face him. Her face was much paler and her skin had a sheen of sweat on it. Licking her lips, she spoke. "I sent him off to bed. He's got an early morning ahead of him." She chuckled quietly.

Jack tried to hide his concern, Lizzie was doing a lot worse than the last time he had seen her. Putting on a strong front, he smiled encouragingly. "Must have been something pretty important to drag him away from you. What little scheme did you think of this time?" He asked with a grin.

Lizzie returned the expression. "I had an…appointment yesterday that I missed. I gave them a call and rescheduled for this morning, and told them Daniel would be over to open up the greenhouse for them."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Appointment with the greenhouse? So, I'm assuming it has something to do with some friendly vines?" Lizzie nodded in confirmation. "Well that could be interesting. I would love to see the look on Daniel's face, though."

"Yeah, he wasn't too happy about it when I told him." Hissing breath through her teeth, Lizzie's face scrunched in pain for a moment. Smoothing her face out again, Lizzie smiled at Jack. "So how goes the antidote hunt?"

Grinning, he clapped his hands together. "Great! We got a sample of the big old blob of vines, not without some trouble." Jack rubbed his neck. "Sam's in her lab right now doing her crazy science stuff to make some elixir of our own. You'll be cured by dinner time!"

Her eyes glittering, Lizzie nodded. "That's fantastic! I only hope she gets finished in time. I don't think I'm going to last much further than dinner." Jack opened his mouth to object. "Please, Jack. Don't try to deny it. I'm doing much worse than before, and it's only going downhill from here." She reached out and patted her hand on his arm. "Its okay, Jack. I'm sure Sam will figure it out in time."

Just then, Sam Carter came rushing into the infirmary, urgently scanning the room. Spotting O'Neill, she hurried over. "Sir, we have a problem." She said reluctantly.

"Don't tell me there's something wrong with that sample, I'm not going out there and getting us another." Jack scolded. Sam smiled wearily and took a breath.

"There's something wrong with the sample." Seeing Jack's murderous look, she held up her hands to stave him off. "We don't need to get another sample! It wouldn't do any good."

"_What _are you talking about, Carter?" Jack asked impatiently. "I distinctly remember you telling us that with a sample of the Mother we could synthe-whatever a cure for this." He jabbed his finger over his shoulder at Lizzie.

"That's what I _thought_, sir. But it was never a 100 percent certainty." Getting an intense look, Carter began gesturing with her hands. "Since the antidote is secreted from the leaves of the 'Mother' we assumed that the genetic coding for it would be buried in the DNA. We have a sample of Lizzie's DNA as well as one take from one of the ambassadors. That way we could compare the strands and pick out the differences." Sam shook her head. "But when we set the DNA strands next to each other, they were all identical." She paused, then amended her statement. "Well, mostly identical. Since the amphelos DNA in Lizzie has been developing apart from its Union counterpart for generations, there are a few alterations in the code that have arisen from exposure to Earth's environment."

Jack gestured impatiently for her to get on with it. "Carter?"

"Sorry, sir!" Sam took a moment to get back her train of thought, then continued. "Like I said, the ambassador's amphelos DNA is identical to the DNA of the sample we took back. Which makes absolutely no sense, because none of the people on that planet, nor their amphelos, have the ability to create the antidote, only the Mother. The only thing I can think of is that when the sample we cut was separated from the main organism, the DNA rewrote itself to become an independent amphelos." She grinned to herself. "It's actually quite interesting! Since the Mother was the first of, essentially, a new species, her genetic disposition was to maximize her reproductive capabilities. When a piece of her is separated from the main unit, it automatically rewrites its cell structure and become a new amphelos."

Jack sighed and glanced back at Lizzie, who was gazing at Carter with a fascinated expression. "And?" He asked.

"_And_ that means we have no way of synthesizing the antidote from the Mother unless we actually take a DNA sample directly from the main organism." She stopped, waiting for Jack to realize what she said.

Sure enough, a few moments later, a shocked look came across his face. "Oh, no! No way am I going back there! Besides, we could never get that thing synthesized with her attacking the whole time!"

Carter nodded in acknowledgement. "I know, sir. We're going to have to try plan B."

"We actually have a plan B this time?" Jack asked, Sam nodded in response. After a moment, he snapped his fingers. "Right! The go-to-the-village-and-borrow-some plan." He paused for a moment. "So…who's going?"

"Well, I thought Daniel should go, he being the least threatening of the team. And the best at negotiating." Sam looked around the room. "Where is Daniel, by the way?"

* * *

Daniel's blaring alarm woke him with a start, and for a moment, he had no idea where he was. The last thing he could remember was sitting in the infirmary looking after Lizzie. But as he sat up and slapped the alarm to shut it off, he noticed that he was now in his bedroom. The clock said 7:30 a.m. Wait a minute; wasn't he supposed to be doing something at eight?

As the past several hours snapped back into place, Daniel jumped out of bed and started frantically dressing. He had to be at Lizzie's house by eight o'clock, and as he rushed around, he didn't have time to be nervous about what he was going there to do. In record time, he showered, dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and grabbed his keys and the key Lizzie had given him. He was out the door and driving off to Lizzie house by 7:48.

As he pulled up in front of her house, he noticed a car already parked there. Checking his watch to make sure he wasn't late, he was happy to see that it read five minutes till eight. Getting out of the car, he saw that the other vehicle was empty, so he walked around the back of the house to check the greenhouse. Standing by the door was an olive skinned woman in loose clothes and a deep red headscarf. Beside her was a young boy, family resemblance noticeable, who shifted back and forth on his feet impatiently. As Daniel came closer, the two noticed him and turned to watch him approach.

Stopping in front of them, Daniel held out his hand to the woman. "You must be Mrs. Fahran. My name's Daniel Jackson. I'm a friend of Lizzie's." Nodding the woman took his hand and shook it briefly. Turning, he addressed the boy. "And you must be Ahram. Am I right?" He held out his hand to the boy as well.

The boy glanced up at his mother, received a nod, and reached out to shake Daniel's hand. "I'm Ahram. Is the Keeper really going to be okay?" He asked abruptly.

A bit taken aback by Ahram's blunt question, Daniel recovered and gave an encouraging smile. "We're taking care of her really well, and I'm sure she'll be good as new before you know it." Satisfied, the boy nodded.

"Are you ready, Ahram?" His mother asked him, glancing over at the greenhouse door. He nervously followed her gaze, gulped, then nodded. She turned her attention to Daniel. "If you would do the honor of unlocking it for us?"

"Oh, sure! No problem." Fumbling with the key, Daniel got it into the door and turned, hearing the click as it unlocked. Starting to turn the knob, a hand rested on Daniel's and he followed it up to Mrs. Fahran's face. Shaking her head lightly, she pulled her hand away. Getting the hint, Daniel took the key out of the door and stepped aside for Ahram.

The boy reached out for the handle and slowly turned it, pulling the door open. His mother rested a hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at her. "May you find your other half, a perfect partner that completes you, my son." Mrs. Fahran said gravely but with great love. Ahram nodded and stepped inside, the vines rustling in response to his presence. He pulled the door closed behind him. Turning to Daniel, the woman gave a wry smile. "Now we wait."

Motioning toward the patio behind them, Daniel asked, "Would you like to wait over there? We can sit down and talk, I've got quite a few questions!" They both laughed and Mrs. Fahran followed Daniel to the patio. They settled in adjacent chairs spent a few moments just relaxing before Daniel spoke again. "So what's actually going on in there?" He asked, staring across the yard at the greenhouse.

"I keep forgetting you haven't been raised with this, like the Keeper and I were." The woman mused. Resettling herself, she faced Daniel. "I can't tell you exactly what's happening to Ahram, because each Teleti is unique. But I can tell you what happened to me when I went through Teleti."

"And, Teleti means ceremony, right?" Daniel asked, remembering Lizzie using that word. Mrs. Fahran nodded. "Okay, I'd be glad to hear what yours was like. If it's not too personal!" He added hurriedly.

"No, no, I'm more than happy to tell a friend of the Keeper about my Teleti. Where should I start…well, first, mine was not in a greenhouse like this one, but a private outdoor menagerie owned by our Keeper of that area. When I entered the menagerie, everyone retreated to the adjoining house for me to return. All the amphelos shook and rustled in excited anticipation as I came close, each one hoping to be the one chosen." She smiled in remembrance. "As we were taught, I called out with my mind, sending the essence of who I was out across the menagerie. In return, the mature amphelos responded with their own messages of who they were. At first it was quite overwhelming; I could hardly pick out one message from another."

"Sounds like it. Before you go on, what do you mean by the essence of who you are?" Daniel asked for clarification.

"My teacher described it to me as like an ad in the paper. Single female looking for soul mate!" She chuckled. "But it was much deeper than that. Even if you didn't know what made you who you were, drawing on your essence could send a deeper, more subconscious message of your personality, things you liked, what you hopes and dreams were, things like that." Daniel nodded in understanding. "And the amphelos would pick up on that, and send you back the same type of subconscious message."

"Do all of your people have the ability to communicate with your minds?" Daniel asked.

"Oh yes, certainly! Otherwise the melding could not occur. Sometimes children are born who don't have the ability, and unfortunately that prevents them from joining the community as a part of the Free Union." Daniel frowned in confusion. "The Free Union is what we call ourselves, if we call ourselves anything. It's to differentiate us from the ancestors of Union. Anyway, back to my Teleti.

"After sitting there in concentration, I was able to weed out the messages I didn't want to hear, the ones that I didn't find compatible. Eventually I had them narrowed down to a few, and I would approach each one and send a stronger signal only to them. They would respond with their own stronger, more detailed message. When I finally decided on the one I thought would be my best companion, I asked it if it would accept me. For us, the bonding of two intelligent creatures has to have an act of consent from both sides. If the one I had chose had decided to decline me, I would have had to start over with another." Mrs. Fahran smiled. "But the amphelos I chose accepted me and detached itself from the group to enter my body."

"How does that happen, exactly?"

"A good question. It depends on the amphelos. Mine chose to wrap itself around me and slowly allow itself to be absorbed through my skin. That particular method is by far the least painful, although it does take much longer." Leaning over almost conspiratorially, the woman whispered. "I heard that our Keeper's amphelos entered her through the most painful of methods. It thrust itself into her mouth and down her throat, absorbing into her system from the inside." She paused. "Well, absorbing is the wrong word. It actually inserted its tendrils into all of her major organs and other systems, allowing for instant integration. It goes without saying that this particular method is very painful, and normally frowned upon, but her amphelos is masculine, so what do you expect." The woman said with a shrug.

Daniel sat in shock for a few moments. "That does seem pretty violent. Almost like how Ne—I mean, almost like stories I've heard about how the ancestors used to do it. And you're sure it was with mutual consent?" He asked.

"Of course it was!" Mrs. Fahran replied in surprise. "The amphelos have been raised for generations to only enter a human with their consent. It would be unthinkable for one to break that rule." She seemed a bit flustered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I didn't trust you or anything." Daniel apologized, trying to calm the woman down. "By the way, what gender is your amphelos?" He asked to change the subject.

"Oh, mine's feminine. She's very passive and helpful, we work together very well!" She glanced over at the greenhouse door. "She loves Ahram just as much as I do, and is just as worried for him."

"Worried, what for?" Daniel asked in curiosity.

"The Teleti is a very taxing ceremony, and depending on the method the amphelos uses to meld with the host, it can also be very dangerous and painful. A long time ago, not everyone survived the process, now the worst you find is someone who needs some medical help afterwards, but nothing serious. We're just hoping he comes out in one piece. If he passes out or something, I'll have to go in after him, though." She got up out of her seat all of a sudden, and started crossing the yard to the greenhouse. Daniel hurried to follow her.

When they were halfway across the yard, the greenhouse door opened and a weary but smiling Ahram stepped out. "We found each other, mother." He said happily. Mrs. Fahran smiled back. Just as they arrived at the door, Ahram wavered and started to collapse. Daniel stepped up quickly and caught the boy on his way down, settling him gently against the wall of the building. He shot a concerned glance up at Ahram's mother.

She leaned down and touched the boy's forehead, then put her hand on his chest. "Don't worry, Mr. Jackson, he's only unconscious. He'll wake up in an hour or so, good as new and _very_ hungry." She laughed. "If you could help me carry him to my car?" She asked.

"Oh, no problem!" Daniel quickly assured. He reached down and collected the boy up in his arms and started across the yard to the front of the house. Mrs. Fahran went ahead of him to unlock the car. A squirming under the boy's skin almost made Daniel drop Ahram. Noticing him jump, Mrs. Fahran came over to him.

"Don't worry, that's just his amphelos getting settled in its new home. It only lasts a few minutes after the melding, once the amphelos is fully absorbed, you can't feel a thing." She reassured him, turning back to unlock the car door. Holding it open, she stepped out of the way for Daniel.

He leaned down and set Ahram in his seat, securing him with the seatbelt. Backing up, he nodded at the mother as she closed the passenger door and crossed to her own. "Tell the Keeper that Ahram did well, and that we all wish for her quick recovery." Mrs. Fahran said to him. "And thank you for lending your help."

"It was a pleasure, and a very informative experience. I'll be sure to pass along your message." Daniel said as he crossed over to his own car. He waited there until Mrs. Fahran drove away, waving as she turned the corner out of sight. Sighing, he got into his car and began the drive up to the SGC. He wished he could just go back to sleep, but he couldn't leave Lizzie alone any longer.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter, and don't forget to review. In case you couldn't tell, this story is winding down to a close, and I'd love to hear how it compared to its predecessor. I apologize again for the long wait, but I assure you, my birthday was well spent watching Stargate, so I'll just chalk it up as 'research'!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait for this chapter, I had it all planned out, but I just couldn't get myself to write it. I wanted it to come out just right, as you'll probably see, and was having a bit of difficulty with that. Hopefully I did well, and you enjoy it. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

**Chapter 12**

Daniel was stopped by an SF before he even got to the elevator to take him down to his lab. Surprised, he stood waiting for the woman to catch up with him. She had called to him across the hall, hoping to get his attention before he entered the elevator. When she came abreast of him, he nodded at her.

"Sorry to stop you, Dr. Jackson. The General wants you to report directly to the infirmary." She spoke briskly, and as soon as her message had been delivered, she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Daniel reached out and caught her cuff. "Is there something wrong? Is Lizzie okay?" He asked, worried by the urgency of Hammond's command. The woman turned around, staring at his hand where it clutched her shirt. He quickly pulled the offending hand back, clasping it together with his other behind his back. Now the SF looked up at him.

"Sorry, Dr. Jackson. I just take the message." With that, she turned away and walked off. Daniel didn't move until after she had turned the corner. In the absence of something to follow, his eyes stared at the wall for a moment, before he snapped himself out of his daze. Something had to be up, he needed to get to the infirmary as soon as possible.

Rushing over to the elevator, he caught the door with his hand as it began to close, startling the occupants. Muttering his apologies, he slipped in between the scientist and airman and pushed the button for the floor the infirmary was on. As the doors closed again and the elevator began to move, his mind counted the agonizing seconds it was taking him. If only the elevator would go faster! He knew he should never have left Lizzie alone, no matter how much she said she was going to be fine.

The doors finally opened on his floor and he raced out the door, almost colliding with a nurse pushing a cart of supplies toward the elevator. Taking a quick step out of the way, he dodged the oncoming cart and called a quick apology as he whipped around the corner and through the door to the infirmary.

Heads turned at his hurried entry. General Hammond, Jack, and Sam were standing together exchanging words with Dr. Frasier. They were blocking Daniel's view of Lizzie's bed and he quickly moved to step around them. Before he could get past though, Jack grabbed his arm. Daniel's head whipped around to look at him, and Jack gave Daniel an apologetic look.

"Good. You're here, Dr. Jackson." General Hammond said, interrupting the moment. "I'm sorry to have to call you here so quickly, but we have something we need you to do."

"But is Lizzie okay?" Daniel asked, still trying to see around the group towards the bed. Sam looked guiltily over at Jack. Daniel feared the worst.

"We got the sample we needed last night, and brought it back." Sam said to Daniel. "But when I analyzed the DNA to synthesize the antidote, it came up as a match to the amphelos DNA we had on file from the ambassadors." She shook her head. "We think that for reproductive purposes, the Mother's DNA is coded to rewrite itself as a new organism when separated from the body."

Beginning to see where this was going, Daniel stopped resisting Jack's hold on his arm and just stared at the others. "You can't get the antidote." He finally spoke, noticing that no one would meet his eyes. Jack grabbed Daniel's other arm and forcefully turned Daniel to face him.

"Don't give up now, Daniel. We have another plan." Jack kept his eyes locked with Daniel's. "We just have to go back to the village and get some of their elixir. Shouldn't be too hard, everyone seems to have some." Jack broke eye contact to glance back at Hammond.

"Dr. Jackson, we'd like you to return to the planet and attempt to retrieve some of this elixir." Daniel opened his mouth to protest. "I'm sending the rest of SG-1 with you as backup, but you're going to be entering the village alone. We want to seem as unintimidating as possible. Just go in there, get the elixir, and get back out." General Hammond spoke firmly, nodding encouragingly at Daniel.

Daniel frowned, glancing at everyone's faces, then over towards the hidden infirmary bed. Dr. Frasier came forward to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jack stepped out of the way. "I'm not going to lie to you, Daniel. It doesn't look good." She led him over toward the bed.

Lizzie laid there, her face more pale than he had ever seen it. He reached out to touch her arm and pulled his hand back, surprised at how hot to the touch her skin was. Dr. Frasier continued speaking, but he never took his eyes off of Lizzie.

"She'd been getting progressively worse through the night, and only an hour or so ago she lost consciousness. Before she did, she told us that her amphelos had been holding off the effects of the poison, but that he was losing strength." Janet shook her head. "I really don't know how much time we have left, but it's not very long. That's why we called you here as soon as you came in."

Stepping up from behind, General Hammond took over the explanation. "We need to have SG-1 geared up and ready as soon as possible. You've already been cleared, just report to the gate room when you're ready." Daniel nodded, and turned to leave the infirmary. "Oh, and Dr. Jackson? I wouldn't say anything about the ambassadors. If anyone asks, we're still in negotiations." Daniel nodded again, gave one last glance back at the bed, and strode out of the infirmary with a determined look.

Those that remained exchanged glances. Finally General Hammond spoke. "Keep an eye on him, Colonel. He's got a lot on his mind right now." Jack nodded back.

"Don't worry, sir. Teal'c and I will make sure he doesn't get in any trouble." He walked purposefully over to the infirmary door, stopping when he got there. "We'll be back before you know it." And with that he left, followed by Sam.

* * *

SG-1 crouched in the brush on the edge of the forest, gazing out at the village sprawled before them. People walked around, children played, things seemed pretty normal. With a sigh, Daniel got up and moved to step out into the clearing. O'Neill grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him back down.

"You know the plan, right Daniel?" Jack asked, trying to read in Daniel's eyes whether he was thinking straight or not. "You go in there, talk to some people, maybe sit down and have a chat with some of the big guys, and get them to offer you some of the drink. You take some, and get out of there. It's that simple."

Sam spoke up. "We'll be right here if anything goes wrong. Meet us here when you have the elixir, and we'll head back to the gate together." She gave Daniel an encouraging smile. "Good luck!"

Daniel nodded back, pulled himself out of Jack's grip and turned to walk away. Teal'c didn't say a word, but settled himself against a tree trunk to wait. Sam and Jack took his idea and sat down themselves, watching Daniel move toward the village.

As Daniel reached the outermost mud huts where children played and raced back and forth, he saw a woman walking toward him from further into the village. On closer inspection, he recognized her as the attendant who had saved his life on the stairs that first day.

"Dr. Jackson, it is a pleasure to see you again. We would be happy to help you in anything you require." She said, motioning toward the center of the village. "Is there anything in particular we can do for you?"

"Oh, I'm just visiting. Although I do have a few questions." Daniel added, watching the children weave around him and the woman. She nodded for him to go on. "I've noticed that all the adults have very pale hair, but the children have all different colors of hair. Why is that?"

The attendant smiled at him and patted the head of a small child that was passing by. "A good question, Dr. Jackson. It has to do with the process of Union. There is a certain amount of trauma that the body undergoes during the process, causing the hair to whiten. When a child is almost ready to go into the Forest of Union, their head is shaved, so that when the hair color changes, it will grow out as a single color."

Daniel noticed that the attendant's hair was rather short, he couldn't help but ask. "So, how long have you been…?"

The woman reached up and touched her hair. "We are a bit young for Union, but not that young. We chose to keep our hair short." She ducked her head to hide a smile. "We like the feel of it better than longer hair."

Daniel was a bit surprised. "Oh! Well that's perfectly fine." He thought of something. "Where do you live, by the way? I know the children live down here, but I've never seen the adult's homes." The woman turned away and started walking, Daniel hurried to follow.

"We live up in the trees, with the other Union." Seeing Daniel's panicked look, she reassured him. "Living quarters are on the lower parts of the trees, council meeting halls are further toward the top."

"Oh, I see." Daniel commented. They had reached the foot of a smaller tree, but it was still at least five or six stories high. The attendant immediately began walking up the steps that protruded out of the trunk. Taking a deep breath, Daniel followed slowly.

After only about a story or so, the woman stopped at a doorway that looked identical to the several doorways they had already passed. She stepped inside. It was a small room, following the curve of the tree except for where a wall stopped it. Through a curtain that hung over a doorway in that wall, Daniel saw the curve of the tree continue in what looked like a bedroom. The woman motioned for Daniel to sit at the small table on one side of the room.

"This is where you live?" He asked, still taking in everything around him. There wasn't much in the way of furnishings, and there were no personal items that he could see. Maybe they were in the bedroom. The attendant busied herself with something at a cabinet on the opposite wall.

"Yes, this is the place we were assigned when we returned from the Forest." She turned and walked over to the table, bringing with her a cup with telltale orange liquid in it. She sat down opposite Daniel and took a sip of it.

"It seems a bit small, are they all this size?" He asked, wracking his brain as to how he was going to get some of the elixir from her. "This doesn't look like it would fit a family or anything."

The attendant gave Daniel a curious look. "This is the size of all the rooms in this tree. Depending on the size of the tree, the rooms could be smaller or larger. What do you mean, 'family'? We don't understand."

Now it was Daniel's turned to look surprised. He should have guessed it. "A family is a group of people, usually a male and female and their children. I know the children live down in those huts, but I presumed that they didn't go down there until after living with their parents for a while."

The woman shook her head. "No, we do not have this group you call 'family'. When a Union has a child, they only keep them long enough to wean them off of the parent's milk. Then the child is sent down to the surface to be raised. Children of Union do not have relations with their parents. Neither do Union have lasting relations with each other. We are already a part of all Union; singling out a particular Union over another would defeat the purpose." She returned to her drink.

Daniel was a bit shocked. Union really was much different from the Earth variety. It was downright scary. But he couldn't get sidetracked. He had a job to do. He pointed at the cup. "What is that you're drinking?"

The attendant looked up at him, then glanced back down at her cup. "This is the elixir from the Mother. It is all we require to live, other than sunlight." She thought for a moment. "Would you like to try some? We do not normally allow those who are not Union to drink the Mother's elixir, but we feed it to the children sometimes, and it does not harm them." She got up to move back to the cabinet, only waiting for Daniel's response.

This was easier than he had expected. "Sure! I'd love to try some." The attendant nodded and poured some into a separate cup and brought it back to the table. "Do you mind if I save some to bring back with me? I'm sure the others that were with me before would love to try it, too!"

The woman looked uncertain for a moment. She seemed about ready to say no, but then she gave a weak smile. "We are to be allies; we must share as Union does. Go ahead." Daniel smiled and pulled a tube out of one of his vest pockets, pouring as much of the elixir as would fit into it. Then he popped the top on and pocketed the tube again. Even though he didn't really want to, he sipped a bit of the drink left in the cup to be polite.

As another attempt to be polite, he tried not to spit the drink in the young woman's face. It tasted revolting. Like the strange nutrition shakes people make to stay healthy, but they can't even drink without scrunching their face up. He finally managed to swallow the sip he had taken, and tried to smile at the expectant attendant. It must have worked because she smiled back and returned to her drink.

He took a look at his watch; it had been about two hours since SG-1 had come through the gate. It was definitely time for him to leave. He got up and moved toward the door. "Thanks for showing me around, and inviting me into your house. I have to go now, but hopefully we'll meet again when we bring the ambassadors back." He said.

The attendant looked a little surprised. "You are leaving already?" She got up as well. "We will escort you down, in case you slip again." She added with a smile that was almost mischievous. So these Union did have a sense of humor…that was something!

Daniel shook his head, "No, no! I'll be fine; I can find my way out. You just stay and finish your drink." He smiled and waved as he stepped out onto the open stairs. "See you again!" Once he had started his way down the stairs, he began regretting his decision. He really should have taken her up on that invitation to escort him down. The ground seemed to stretch away below him, and he desperately clung to the trunk of the tree, sliding down step by step slowly. He thanked whoever was out there that no wind blew, because he was sure that with the wind he would have fallen.

Finally, he arrived safely at the bottom, and heaved a sigh of relief. Walking toward the forest edge on weak legs, he took a last look around the village. Chances were that he wouldn't be seeing this place again, unless he came with when they brought the ambassadors back. Hammond would certainly never agree to an alliance after all that had happened.

When he got to the forest and met up with the rest of SG-1, they all gave him worried looks, wondering if he had been able to get some of the elixir. With a smile, he pulled the vial out of his vest pocket and waved it at them. They all smiled, Jack slapping an arm around Teal'c happily. Together they made their way back to the gate.

"So, how did you get the elixir, Daniel?" Sam asked after a few silent moments of walking.

"It was that woman who saved me before, on the stairs. She came to meet me when I got to the village, and I managed to get her to show me her house." Jack grinned at Daniel. "No, Jack, it wasn't like that." Daniel said reproachfully. "She sat down to drink some and I asked if I could have some. She gave me a cup, and I took the sample." He shook his head, still trying to get the taste out of his mouth. "But man, that stuff tastes horrible!" Jack laughed.

* * *

After SG-1 had their medical check, they wordlessly went over to Lizzie's bed with the elixir. Dr. Frasier came over to meet them. "So you got the elixir?" She asked, O'Neill nodded. "Good, because she hasn't been doing any better. Her heart actually stopped once, but we were able to get it going again. The sooner we get that antidote into her, the better." She held out her hand for the vial. Daniel passed it over.

"Try not to use the whole thing, Janet." Sam said before the doctor could open the vial. Everyone turned to look at her. "We don't know that she's going to need all of it, and if we can save some, it's possible I can synthesize more. Who knows what kind of medical benefits this elixir might have!" Sam looked pleadingly at Janet. With a sigh, Janet nodded.

"Okay, I won't give her the whole thing, but if she doesn't get better, I'll have to give her the rest, Sam." Dr. Frasier said as she opened the vial. She leaned forward and used one hand to open Lizzie's mouth a bit, then she poured most of the contents into the young woman's mouth. Putting the cap back on the vial, she handed it over to Sam. "Now we wait." She said, slipping her hands into the pockets of her coat.

They all stood there for several seconds, nervously waiting for some change in Lizzie's condition. Then suddenly Lizzie's eyes flew open and she jerked up in the bed and began thrashing. Before anyone could grab hold of her, she slumped back down, the heart monitor making an ominously stretched out beep. Dr. Frasier burst into action.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked frantically. "That was supposed to cure her, not kill her!" Jack held him back from rushing up to the bed.

"She's not dead yet." Frasier said determinedly as nurses came over with equipment to help her resuscitate the patient. "Her heart has stopped, but if we can get it going again in time, there won't be any lasting damage." As she reached for the defibrillator to try to jumpstart Lizzie's heart, the heart monitor's noise changed. A single quick beat, followed by another. "Wait! Her heart beat is coming back! Its getting stronger, maybe the elixir did work!"

Daniel pushed the nurses aside as he worked his way over to the head of Lizzie's bed. By the time her heartbeat was steady and she opened her eyes again, he was standing next to her, clasping her hand in his. "Hey, Lizzie." He said quietly as she looked over at him. "We got the antidote; you're going to be okay." She smiled weakly up at him.

"She still needs some rest, though." Janet said, coming over to Daniel's side and slowly pulling him away. "And so do you all." She said, looking at the rest of SG-1. "I'll keep an eye on her, why don't you four go get some rest on base; I'll come get you if anything changes."

Jack, Sam and Teal'c nodded, shepherding the reluctant Daniel out of the infirmary. Janet turned back to Lizzie after she made sure that SG-1 was following her orders. The young woman was looking up at her with a smile. "Thank you." Lizzie said quietly.

"Don't thank me, Lizzie. Thank them. They worked hard to get that antidote to you. But just rest, they'll be back later." Frasier said to Lizzie, patting her arm. Lizzie nodded slowly and closed her eyes. She was asleep within moments.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I hadn't planned on splitting this part into two chapters, but I realized it was running a bit long, so the rest is going to be in the next chapter. I apologize again for such a long wait for this chapter. The next chapter should be up within the next few days. I hope you enjoyed it and please don't forget to review!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has patiently stayed with me since the beginning of A Tangled Green, and to all of you who have starting reading this story along the way. I tried to take a rough concept and flesh it out into a story, and it partially worked, and partially didn't. But I'm glad that you stuck with me, and I hope it was at least worth the wait. This has been a long time coming, but here it is. The Last Chapter.

**Chapter 13**

After several hours of much needed sleep, SG-1 woke up and converged on the infirmary, one by one. Not surprisingly, Daniel was the first to arrive. He spoke to Dr. Frasier, learning from her that Lizzie had slept soundly since they left, and wasn't awake yet. By the time everyone had arrived, Daniel was anxious to check on Lizzie. Together they went over to the bed.

A nurse was helping Lizzie into a sitting position as they walked up. Lizzie thanked the woman and took the cup of water she had been carrying. The nurse left without another word. Jack, Sam and Teal'c arranged themselves around the bed, leaving the head of the bed for Daniel. Sam and Jack sat down on the foot of the bed, Daniel pulled up a chair by the head of the bed, and Teal'c stood sentry at the very end.

Taking deep swallows of the water, as if she had just returned from a week in the desert, Lizzie smiled around at them. "Looks like we're all rested up, doesn't it?" She set down the empty cup on a side table. "So what happened while I was unconscious before? Other than you hunting down the antidote and saving my life." She said, looking over at Daniel.

"Not much, I suppose." Daniel commented with a dry smile. He related the story of his trip to the village, which not even the rest of SG-1 had heard all about. Finishing up, he shrugged modestly. "Like I said, not much."

Lizzie laughed. "You're a person after my own heart, Daniel!" They shared a smile. "But did you really meet the Mother?" She asked with awe in her voice.

"Well, I wouldn't say we made a good first impression." Jack spoke up, rubbing his throat again, which was still a bit sore. "But yeah, sure. We met Her Tangledyness. Even brought back a souvenir, not that it did us any good."

"I'm sorry, I know you already told me about it, but I just can't get over the fact that you've met the first amphelos face-to-face!" She stopped to think about that imagery. "Or well, face-to-vine, at least." A strange glint appeared in her eyes. "Do you think I could go see Her?" The others stared at her in shock for a few moments.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Jack said slowly.

"Well, if I'm right, the Mother won't attack unless she's threatened. Just going up to see her probably won't cause any adverse reaction, sir." Sam offered, not sure whether she should be defending Lizzie's idea.

"The bottom line, Lizzie, is you're not fully recovered yet." Daniel said, resting a hand on her arm. Dr. Frasier chose that moment to walk up with a clipboard.

"She's fully recovered." Janet said matter-of-factly, not noticing the smirks on the others' faces, and the look of defeat on Daniel's. "Internal organs have returned to normal functioning levels, blood pressure's normal. She doesn't show any signs of brain damage." She flipped the papers she had lifted up back down on the clipboard. "All she needed was a bit of rest to let the elixir do its work."

"So I can get out of this hospital bed?" Lizzie asked. The eagerness in her voice made the others chuckle.

"Yep, I've cleared you. You don't need to stay in here any longer." Frasier said with a smile.

"I know how you feel about the bed; I guess you could do with some time to stretch your legs." Daniel said, warming up to the idea.

"Do we not still require the permission of General Hammond for any offworld missions?" Teal'c brought up.

"We are scheduled to take the ambassadors back to the planet." Sam said. She turned to Lizzie. "General Hammond decided to not take any action against them, only to let the Union know we're not interested in any alliance."

"They can do what they want with the ambassadors once they have them. I'm sure they'll be more that happy to dole out punishment to the folks who ruined their chances at an alliance." Jack said, not looking too happy with the arrangement. They could all see what _he_ wanted to do with the ambassadors.

"There is still the issue of bringing a civilian without clearance offworld." Teal'c spoke again, ever the pragmatist.

"C'mon, Teal'c! The kid's been stuck in a hospital bed for over two days, and given the circumstances, I don't think clearance is an issue, here." Jack pointed out. Teal'c bowed his head in recognition. "But, yeah…I'll go clear it with Hammond." Jack admitted with a sigh. He got up, nodded to the others, and left the infirmary.

Looking back and forth between the remaining people, Lizzie's eyes shone with an intense eagerness. "So I'm going to be able to go?" She asked.

"If General Hammond gives the go-ahead, yes you will." Daniel said. "Why don't you get changed and we'll come back when we hear the General's decision." He nodded, patting Lizzie's arm, and got up to leave. Teal'c and Sam followed him out. Dr. Frasier and the nurse helped Lizzie get out of bed and showed her where she could change.

* * *

Standing in front of the Stargate, SG-1 waited patiently, and impatiently, for the rest of their little party to arrive. Finally, Lizzie walked into the gateroom, dressed in oversized green BDUs. The team turned to watch her as she came in.

"Nice outfit, looks good on you." Jack said with a smile. Lizzie smiled back as she took a position next to Daniel.

"I thought so! A bit roomy, but that's what you get for being short." Lizzie gave a resigned sigh. "Not that I had much choice. The doctor told me that they had destroyed my old clothes in case of biohazard. I liked that outfit, too!" She pouted mockingly.

"Oh, come on, Lizzie. I have it for a fact that you have at least two more that look exactly the same at home." Daniel chided. Jack raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Daniel.

"Now that's what I call a wardrobe!" He said, then winked at Lizzie. "I dress the same way."

"Exactly!" Daniel said in exasperation. Before Jack could think up of a good comeback, a squad of marines came into the gateroom, leading the three ambassadors in with them. As soon as Spike and Flora caught sight of Lizzie, they lunged forward, only being stopped by the quick reflexes of the marines guarding them.

"Watch out for the vines!" Jack called over to the marines. "They can reach _pretty_ far." He added. The leader of the marines nodded in recognition and led the ambassadors over to a spot across the room from Lizzie. The leader of the ambassadors, Twiggy, leaned around his guards and looked disdainfully over at Lizzie.

"So this is the scum that our assistants _attempted_ to eliminate." He glared back at the other two, they wilted under his gaze. He turned back to SG-1 and Lizzie. "You are an abomination and a traitor, we would kill you ourselves if we were able." He flicked his eyes at the marines surrounding him.

"It would appear that you are not able." Teal'c commented matter-of-factly. "It would also appear that your first attempt at killing Lizzie Hayle was unsuccessful. Do not believe you will have another chance." He said warningly. The rest of SG-1 heard the bitterness in his voice and were a bit surprised.

Lizzie just stood there, her happy expression wiped from her face by the insults of the ambassadors. Daniel turned to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't let them bother you, Lizzie. You're better than they are, and they can't hurt you anymore." She nodded, but Daniel wasn't entirely convinced she believed him.

General Hammond spoke from the control room. "SG-1, SG-5, return the ambassadors to their home planet, relay to them our position on the alliance," He paused. "And get that girl back in one piece." The two team leaders nodded. The gate began dialing up.

A bit disgruntled, Lizzie turned to Daniel. "I'm not a lump of clay or anything. I think I can take care of myself." He smiled back at her, then turned her to face the Stargate as the final chevron locked. As the energy vortex sprung out of the activated Stargate and stretched into the room, Lizzie gasped. Before she could even begin to comprehend what she was seeing, the vortex collapsed into the event horizon of the wormhole and stabilized.

"Nice trick, isn't it?" Daniel said with a knowing smile. Lizzie frowned at him. He had just wanted to show off.

"If you'd like, I could explain it to you…" Sam began, before Jack waved her to a stop.

"We've got a mission to do right now, explanations later." He said briskly. He turned back to look at the control room where Hammond still stood. The general nodded at him.

"You have a go. Good luck and Godspeed." Hammond said as usual. The two teams moved toward the gate, SG-5 going on ahead. After they had passed through the event horizon, SG-1 started to head through. Finally it was just Lizzie and Daniel. She looked up at him a bit fearfully.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?" She asked.

"Not any worse than what you've been through." Daniel dodged. With a sigh, he linked his arm with hers. "Its not getting any easier, lets go." And with that, he pulled her through the event horizon with him.

Once through the gate, the teams regrouped and went through their plan. Lizzie just sat on the steps leading up to the gate, looking around with wide eyes. Daniel kept an eye on her during the teams' discussions, and came over to her when they were finished. "So how was it?" He asked.

Surprised out of her daze, Lizzie looked up at him. "Not any worse than what I've been through." She said slyly. "Though you could have told me about the steps, I almost fell when I came out!" She glared playfully at Daniel.

He laughed. "Sorry, I don't really think of it that much. Been through so many times its pretty much old hat for me." He looked down at her innocently. "Oh, and before I forget, when we go back, there's a ramp on your way out. Just in case you fall." He grinned wickedly and grabbed Lizzie's hand when she reached up to smack him. With a jerk, he pulled her to her feet and led her back over to the others. Jack was just giving his last instructions to SG-5.

"Now, we split up. You head to the village with Twiggy and his pals in tow, while we head to the Mother. Once everyone's finished, we meet back here before heading back to the SGC. Got that?" The other team nodded, and started off with the ambassadors. "Okay, let's go see the Mother and get outta here!" He started trudging off into the woods.

"O'Neill. I believe the grove where the Mother is located lies in this direction." Teal'c said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Right, I knew that. Just testing ya!" Jack recovered, switching direction without breaking stride. The rest of the team exchanged knowing looks, then followed.

As Lizzie walked through the forest, she was constantly looking up into the trees where the clusters of amphelos grew. She was so focused on the trees that Daniel had to save her from falling several times when she would trip over a root. After a while, he noticed the vines reaching down towards her. She responded by running her fingertips across the leaves as she passed. Finally, he couldn't help his curiosity.

"Why are they doing that?" He asked, pointed toward the hanging vines. Lizzie glanced over at him, missing the vine she had been about to touch. It stretched farther and wrapped itself lightly around her finger before letting go as she moved out of range.

Frowning, Lizzie tried to find a way of explaining it. "It's…sort of like saying hello. Only more personal. What my amphelos and I have become represents the pinnacle of all amphelos achievements. Every one of these vines wants what we have." She got a thoughtful look. "It's odd though. They're the most empty amphelos I've ever come in contact with."

"Empty?" Daniel queried.

"They have the least amount of personality of any amphelos I've met. Like I said before, amphelos have hardly any personality before they receive a host, but this is just ridiculous! They're almost like drones, instead of sentient creatures. I feel so sorry for them. Especially since Union doesn't believe in personality building, which is a great thing for amphelos. These guys will never be any more than basic needs and wants. It's almost like they're regressing." She stopped to ponder that thought.

A few minutes later, they reached the clearing where the Mother lived. Checking to make sure no collectors were around, the team moved in. Lizzie stopped in her tracks when she saw the colossal plant. Upon her entering the clearing, the vines on the Mother shifted, revealing a deep glowing mass in the center.

Surprised, Sam spoke up. "Wow. That must be sort of like the brain of the organism. Since she's the only one who doesn't take a host, she needed her own higher functions brain, and there it is." She said, pointing towards the throbbing mass in the center. "But why…?"

"It opened because of me." Lizzie said matter-of-factly. She frowned and pressed her hand to her stomach for a moment. Maybe she should have taken up that offer of food from the nurses before she left. Pushing it to the back of her mind, Lizzie refocused on the team.

"So, what? It sensed one of its children nearby and wanted to show you how smart it was?" Jack asked, obviously not buying into it. Lizzie just shook her head, brow furrowed.

"It's probably like the greeting the other amphelos were showing to Lizzie as we made our way out here." Daniel commented. The others gave him a curious look. "You didn't see? They were reaching out and touching her as she walked past." He glanced over at Lizzie, who had that strange look in her eyes again, as she slowly moved toward the Mother.

"Well, we know that the amphelos have at least basic telepathic and empathic abilities. It only stands to reason that the progenitor would have much stronger abilities. Maybe it's trying to communicate with Lizzie. Lizzie?" Sam glanced around, and found that Lizzie was even closer to the plant now.

"I do not believe it would be safe for you to approach any closer Lizzie Hayle." Teal'c said in his own version of worry. The team moved toward Lizzie, not wanting to get too close to the Mother themselves. Daniel reached Lizzie first and placed his hand on her shoulder, making her stop.

"You really shouldn't be this close, Lizzie. We don't know that it won't take the same viewpoint as the Union about you." Lizzie never even turned to look at him. He stepped to her side so he could see her better. "Are you okay, Lizzie?" He asked with concern.

Lizzie snapped out of whatever daze she had been and turned her head to face Daniel. "Yeah, I'm fine I just—" she broke off as she seemed to flinch and grimace. Daniel was beginning to think that perhaps she shouldn't have left the infirmary so quickly. Lizzie waved him off. "No, no. Really, I'm fine." Another stab of pain made her hunch over. "I'm really starting to regret not taking that nurse up on the food, though. My stomach is—" A stronger pain this time, and before Daniel could pull her back, her head whipped around to face the Mother again.

Before Lizzie could breathe in to voice a scream of pain, something tore out of her chest, flying toward the brain of the Mother. In the split second that it was in flight, Daniel saw tendrils of vine, bits of green peeking out from behind the red that covered the entire mass. Lizzie stood upright for a moment afterwards, staring down at herself in shock, before finally succumbing and collapsing to the ground. Daniel barely managed to prevent her head from hitting the ground.

Teal'c, Jack and Sam had rushed over as soon as they saw the red thing fly from Lizzie to the Mother. Gazing in toward the brain, they saw the amphelos' bloody tendrils wrapped tightly around the glowing mass. The Mother began to thrash, and Jack clutched his head in pain as the barely heard buzzing increased in intensity. The others seemed unaffected. Before their eyes, the amphelos squeezed tighter and tighter until the glowing mass burst, showering somewhat clear plant sap down on the team. The tendrils shuddered one last time, then sagged.

SG-1 heard thumping sounds all around them. Looking around, Sam, Jack and Teal'c saw amphelos falling from trees as far as the eye could see. Far away, they heard the distant sound of screams.

* * *

In the village, the young woman attendant who had saved Daniel's life had been spending time with the children down at the mud huts. The other Union didn't much approve of this practice, but Daniel had gotten her thinking. Perhaps the caring touch of an adult would help these children in the times before their Teleti.

She was helping a young boy build a tree tower out of mud when she felt it. A stab of pain to the heart, the anguished cry of her amphelos in her mind, along with the cries of many others throughout the village and the forest. And one cry, even stronger. The cry of the Mother herself. The strain on her body was too much, and the attendant collapsed on the ground, her heart stopped. Blood trickled slowly from her nose, and it was this that started the poor boy screaming.

All over the village, Union were collapsing, hemorrhaging from their brains and suffering heart attacks. Those that had been climbing the towers fell, causing pandemonium when they landed on the earth by the mud huts. Children roamed the streets, plucking at these figures who would not move.

* * *

SG-5 was at the gate, making their report back to Hammond when it happened. None of them noticed a thing, nor did anyone in the SGC. But across the US, and spreading outwards rapidly across the globe, certain people heard the screams of the Mother as their amphelos died, almost immediately succumbing to the intense empathic pressure themselves.

Ahram and his mother were at home, working on his homework together when it struck them. Their eyes locked, Ahram's with fear, his mother's with worry, as their amphelos died and their bodies slumped against the tabletop.

In Wales, Harper and Gwyn Hayle were in the garden, Gwyn weeding a flowerbed, and Harper trimming a hedge. When they felt the scream, all they had time to do was look at each other and say one word.

"Lysandrea."

In less than five minutes from the moment the Mother had died, millions of people were dead, both on Earth and on Union.

* * *

Daniel knelt on the ground, Lizzie's body cradled in his lap. Her chest was a mess, and her expression was one of shock. Unable to look at her anymore, he had closed his eyes and just sat there, rocking slowly back and forth. A hand touched his shoulder and he jerked, turning a tearstained face to see Jack standing next to him. The older man's expression was one of understanding, and of sadness.

Sam walked around Daniel and knelt in front of him, gently closing Lizzie's eyes. Seeing the motion, he turned to look at her as well. She had also been unable to hold back the tears. Her hands wiped uselessly at her face as she silently tried to give Daniel strength.

Pulling Lizzie's body close to him, Daniel tried to get up. After a few failed attempts, Teal'c stepped forward and took Lizzie's body from Daniel. Jack then helped the young man to his feet. Totally lost in his own world, Daniel had to be led back to the Stargate by Jack. Teal'c went in front of them, and Sam took up the rear as a sort of funeral procession.

When they got back to the gate, SG-5 was just returning from the village. When they had heard the screaming of the children, they had gone back to investigate. The grim looks on their faces told SG-1 all they needed to know. Dreading what they would find on the other side, the teams dialed home and stepped through the event horizon back to the SGC.

* * *

Almost a week later, the publicity was just dying down about the odd deaths of millions of people, from all walks of life, all across the globe, that had occurred almost simultaneously. The governments that knew about the Stargate program had agreed upon the cover story that an experimental drug that had been undergoing a worldwide test had been discovered to have an unexpected half-life. Once the time duration had been reached, the breakdown of the drug had caused fatal hemorrhaging and heart failure. Suffice it to say, not all the world was buying it.

Daniel, though, could care less what the government told the world, he knew the truth. His actions had caused an innocent woman, and millions of other innocent people, to lose their life. He didn't think he could ever forgive himself. The others had been trying to tell him that he could have never foreseen this happening, and therefore it couldn't be his fault. Suffice it to say, he did not believe them.

On his first day back to active duty, after a mandatory time-off placed on him by both General Hammond and Dr. Frasier, Daniel sat in his office, pondering. He was about ready to head out on a mission to P3X-4C3. From what he had heard, they had received communications from the inhabitants when they sent the initial probe. The people there seemed to be almost at Earth's level of technology, and could prove to be welcome allies. But considering his track record right now, he wouldn't count on it. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling.

"Moping again, are you?" A familiar voice asked, a hint of laughter in their tone. But that couldn't be. Because this particular familiar voice was nowhere in the land of the living. Turning, he saw Lizzie standing in the doorway, wearing her usual bohemian style clothing. Tilting her head, she smiled at him.

Something nudged her from behind and she moved out of the way to let a medium sized dog past. Wagging his tail, Milo wuffled softly at Daniel. Frowning, Daniel pointed to the dog. "I don't think dogs are allowed on the base, unless they're working dogs, I suppose. And I thought you got rid of Milo."

Shaking her head, Lizzie sighed. "You're much too literal, Daniel. Remember, you're dreaming." She said kindly, wandering into the room and beginning to look at his collection of artifacts. As she found ones of interest, she would carefully pick them up, examine them, and replace them.

"I'm…I'm dreaming?" He asked dumbly. Of course he was dreaming, he thought. Because Lizzie is definitely dead, and the SF's would definitely not let a dog onto the base. Lizzie turned to shoot him an inquisitive glance.

"Daniel, I know you're smarter than that." Putting down the artifact she was holding, she sighed, rolled a computer chair over to him and sat down in it. "I'm no more here than you are awake. But I don't have time to sit here pondering the 'if's' and 'how's', I came here for a reason."

Daniel shook his head, unable to think of why she would be here. "I don't even remember falling asleep." He said lamely. Lizzie shot him an annoyed look, and Milo bumped his hand so it was setting on top of the dog's head. Daniel obediently began scratching it.

"I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that." Lizzie finally said. "I'm here because you're not doing so well." She gave him a look that dared him to defy her, but Daniel merely nodded reluctantly. "Stop blaming yourself for what happened to me. You don't know the whole story." She looked down at her hands.

"The whole story?" Daniel asked, realizing his side of the conversation wasn't really doing so well.

"You couldn't have prevented me dying there when I did, Daniel. It was my amphelos, you saw it. He would have found a way. I was weak after the antidote healed me, and he was able to influence me to want to go see the Mother. He hid from me the reason he wanted to go, and I never even guessed." She seemed to be getting a bit upset. "We shared the same body, the same mind, and I didn't even know who he was and what he was up to."

Feeling he had to comfort her, Daniel spoke. "It wasn't your fault, he tricked you, and you could never have foreseen this would happen." Realizing what he had said, he shot an embarrassed look over at Lizzie.

"That's right, Daniel. Perhaps taking your own advice every once in a while would be a good idea." She paused, posing as deep in thought. "But wait, that wasn't your advice, that's what your friends have been telling you for days! Leave it to a dead girl to see the truth." She sighed dramatically. "Bottom line is, he was a traitor, but not just to me. He was descended from a Union that remained on Earth to watch the newly formed Free Union. Over time, his line realized that the idea of independence wasn't all that bad, but they much preferred control. His ancestors were supposed to report back to the Mother on a regular basis informing her about what her 'wayward flock' was up to. But they didn't. They were enjoying their freedom too much." She waved her hand in a 'fast forward' gesture.

"Now my amphelos was the peak of his line's arrogance. He enjoyed control. A lot. I never realized it until now, but there were so many times that he took control of my body to do things he wanted, and either blank my memory out, or replace it with a false one." She glanced down at Milo. "That's what happened to poor Milo here." She leaned over and pet his chin. "My amphelos gave me the idea that Milo had been eating the greenhouse amphelos and I had given him away to a client. But in reality, my amphelos had been trying to get other amphelos to meld with different species, and failed. Milo didn't survive."

Daniel sat there speechless for a while, absently scratching Milo's head. Finally he looked up. "So where are you now?" He asked.

"I'm right in front of you silly!" Lizzie laughed. "No seriously. I'm a part of the Great Union now, just like we always hoped for." A blissful look came to her face. "You couldn't possibly imagine how wonderful it is to just flow around as a being with no shape or size, mixing with all the other beings in the universe. We share thoughts, memories, ideas, everything! All of us circling around the core, where the people who followed the path of Union are. I like to think they're being punished, but to them, it's just what they've always wanted. They've lost all sense of individuality, and so they are all fused together in a dense sphere, thinking as one being. Those of us out here have the free reign of the universe, to flow and spin around the core as much as we want."

"But I thought you said the Great Union couldn't happen till the end of time, when all things were back to being one. Last time I checked, we weren't there yet." Daniel said dryly.

"I'm outside of time, so is the Great Union. It is always existing; we just could only see it at the beginning and end of our own sense of time." Lizzie could see that Daniel was floundering. "Okay, picture a store on Black Friday. It's early in the morning, and as people show up there to shop, they line up waiting outside the door for it to open. As soon as the clock strikes, the doors open and everyone rushes in at once, no matter how long or short they've been there. Only instead of everyone rushing to wherever they want to go, as soon as the doors open they suddenly find that they are already at the place they were going to.

"That's what it's like with the Great Union. When I died and arrived there, everyone was there waiting, and we all suddenly came into being in the way that we are now. So no matter how long ago someone died, or whether or not they haven't even been born yet, they all arrive at the same time. Confusing, I know." Lizzie finished up.

Daniel thought of something. "So, am I there?" He asked, hoping she would answer, and dreading what it would be. Lizzie just winked at him and gave him a sly grin.

"Now why would I tell you something like that? That would ruin everything!" She could tell that Daniel wasn't satisfied with her answer. "Okay, I will tell you this, you've got great things ahead of you, Daniel, lots of great things. No matter what happens, follow your instincts, and go with the flow!" She said this last bit as she seemed to flow up from the chair in a spin, taking Milo with her. They seemed to dissolve into specks of light and fade into the air. He followed their path up to the ceiling, leaning back in his chair until he couldn't see them any more. Just as they were finally disappearing, he heard a whisper in his ear.

"I'll be seeing you soon. And thanks…for everything!"

Jerking to a start, he sat up in his chair and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. So he had been dreaming after all. But that didn't mean it wasn't all true. Trying to get his bearings as to what he had been doing before, he heard a knock on his doorframe. Turning, he saw Jack standing there.

"Sleeping on the job again, I see." He said good-humoredly. "C'mon, let's go! We've got to head off to P3X-4C3! Adventure awaits!" With that, he wandered off, to let Daniel grumble about people who were too cheery even without coffee.

* * *

Coming out of the elevator that had led them down into the science facility, SG-1 encountered a young man with an eager expression. He stepped forward with a broad smile. "This is incredible!" He said excitedly. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He looked around at all of them. "I'm…I'm Jonas Quinn. I'm Special Advisor to our High Minister."

Jack looked around at the people bustling down the hallways, the guards at the elevators, and the flashing lights on the ceiling. "Security's a little tight around here, I noticed." He commented.

Jonas nodded. "As you've undoubtedly been told, this is one of our most secret and important research operations." As he spoke, he glanced at the symbol on Teal'c's forehead, gesturing to his own in confusion. The team looked at him, pondering what exactly this secret and important research was.

Trying to not make them all seem rude, Daniel stretched his hand out to the man. "Daniel Jackson." He said, shaking hands with the inquisitive young man. The others proceeded to introduce themselves. Ah, the ice had been broken. These people could very possibly be exactly the ones Earth had been hoping to find for a long time.

Daniel sensed the future looking up. Lizzie had been right; there were definitely great things ahead for him.

* * *

A/N: Ahhh…I'd been wanting to end this on Meridian for quite a while. It just seemed to fit, and to be a bit ironic as well. Forgive me for taking some literary license with the numerical name of the planet. In the show, they only refer to it as 4C3, so I just chose a beginning three digits to fit. I apologize if the Union planet scenes were a bit harsh, but I saw them that way, and had to bring them across like that. I hope all of you have enjoyed this long, sometimes boring, journey to learn about the amphelos. And I also hope you see both sides of their battle, because I had always wanted it to not be black and white. Anyway, enough rambling. Thank you to everyone, and please don't forget to review!


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